innovation playground Idris Mootee

Let Me Propose To Limit The 'Intenet Kill Switch' To Just Facebook And Twitter.

For me, the Internet is more important than the phone, television and even electricity in some cases. When the Internet is down, we can't work and suddenly we're disconnected from our world. It has become so important for many of of us these days. I can't imagine if the Internet is down for more than a few hours. 

A US Senate Bill is proposing that if there is a "cybersecurity emergency" the President should be able to "seize control of, or simply shut down, portions of the Internet," with broadband providers and search engines required to comply. It is called the 'Internet Kill Switch'. The US President could be awarded absolute power to control the Internet in the case of a nation-wide emergency. I wonder if he will be too busy for that in such a situation.

This bill is so ridiculous. This is not the same as shutting the down US air traffic during a terrorist attach, this can inflict an enormous damage on the entire world and this should not be in the hands of one country. All our systems (banks, hospitals, transportation) and societies will simply be shut down. The proposed switch is effectively a switch to shut down the world. I suggest just give the government a kill switch for just Facebook and Twitter as terrorists hate our social networks because they don't have access from the caves.

Rethinking Memorial Day. Let's Not Forget What It Means And The True Costs.

Today is a special day in America, particularly now and it is not another holiday. Over lunch I was watching TV, these military moms talked about their fallen loved ones. My heart aches so much when I hear each of them telling how old their sons were when they lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are 19 to 22 year old young men (and women) that never had the opportunity to experience life. My heart goes out to every military mom and dad who has a child fighting over in Iraq or Afghanistan. How I wish we could just bring our boys (and girls) home. It is time to bring them home. The war has become pointless. And yesterday I was watching the movie Green Zone, depressing indeed.

For those Americans that are shopping happily in malls today, I am afraid you’ve forgotten what this day is for. This is not a holiday for shopping or vacation. Suddenly this day has turned into 48 inches LCD sale and 30% off your Armani jeans. This is the day for Americans to rethink their role in the world and remember the fallen heroes. We need to limit commercial activities and instead organize events and to think about what have gone wrong and to help the families of all those fallen heroes.

For those designers out there, you should be thinking about how to turn this day back into what it should be. Not only, you should think about new ways to make it relevance to the younger generation. War is not what they see in PS3 ‘Modern Warfare’ or 'Call of Duty.' Today's young people see and understand things differently and often lack the patience to think about things. Let's start with every video war games to have a history section. I like this idea. And may be all war games sale should contribute some profits to help the returning soldiers or educate young people the true cost of war and why we should avoid it at all costs. Why not? They're making tons of money from them.

Forget the marching bands parading down main streets, it is boring. We need to make this relevance to younger people so that they understand what price we have to pay for freedom and sometimes bad policies.

Here's an example. There is an Iraq Body Count Exhibit, a traveling installation that plants red and white flags in public spaces around Memorial Day to help visualize the deaths of both Iraqi soldiers and US associated with the Iraq war. It takes 200 volunteers to set up, very powerful and experiential. It helps people visualize the impact of war in a relevant way, and disrupts behavior. Steve McCallion (Ziba Design Creative Director) presents a few interesting ideas (Fast Company Article) from quieting our social networks in observance to asking companies to celebrate country over commerce. I think we can use a little design thinking here. Reinventing the Memorial Day. And please don't go shopping today.

CRM Is Just A Fancy Name For Customer Data Management System. CRM Don't Do Anything For Most People As A Customer. Now CRM Needs To Get Social.

Remember 8 years ago every VCs were pouring money into CRM (Customer Relationship Management), I never liked that word. It is a fancy name for some overbuilt customer data management system. What does it do for me as a customer? Nothing. Amex is worst, when you talk to them on a call center, I can predict what they are about to say. I might as well do a chat online. But what do I care?  Siebel built a $5 billion company (and making a few people rich along the way), its market share peaked around 45% in 02. And in 05, it was sold to Oracle for $5.8 billion. Siebel is now a brand name owned by Oracle Corporation.

Then came Salesforce.com, an on-demand CRM Company that came as a disruption for all CRM players. A very smart company whose value proposition is you don't need big software, just pay a few hundred dollars a month. They killed all the mid-market players which shouldn't be funded in the first place. Salesforce.com is the first SaaS provider to hit $1 billion in annual revenues. They didn’t stop there, this month they rolled out private beta of Chatter, which is basically “Facebook for the Enterprise” or whatever it means. I think this is a big winner.

Chatter has integrated a lot of Facebook’s elements into its layout and configuration so FB users will find it very familiar. There are user profiles, status messages (where you can leave your status on a current project or make a request for information), groups and individualized streams that you can customize to feed information. But is is not a social network, probably fair to call you an enterprise knowledge collaboration tool. It is Lotus Notes all over again?

What about CRM for social networks? One start-up got it right. What this 4-year-old FanBridge does is pretty simple: help musical connect with their fans. It connects tens of thousands of artists with more than 50 million registered fans, sending out close to a million emails per day (and adding nearly a million fans per week). You can collect mobile info from fans and send last-minute show reminders or live updates from backstage with our mobile text messaging platform. You can even schedule text messages to automatically send in the future, so you can always stay connected with fans.

They serve 200 fans garage band or  2 million fans up-and-coming rock band. This is a very smart idea when my friend mentioned this to me over dinner in NYC a few weeks ago. His son Spencer Richardson started this company 4 years ago and it is flourishing. And there is a reason.

The second smart thing is in order to compete big guys such as ReverbNation, FanBridge borrowed a page from Nordstrom and Zappos, service is the key competitive advantage. Typically an artist will convert after four months, to plans that start at $7/month and run all the way up to $250. Very stable revenue model and they are getting angel funding in March from Dave McClure at the Founders Fund, Jeff Clavier and Chris Sacca.

I think this idea has legs, imagine going beyond musicians to include motivational speakers, cosmetic surgeons, celebrity chefs, social enterprises, fashion designers, interior designers, architects, published authors? The value proposition is strong and clear, technology is generally pretty easy to implement and pricing structure is very friendly. The latest feature that they launched SocialStats, a new feature that will allow you to easily monitor your key social network statistics. With Social Stats, you will get a clean dashboard of the total number and weekly change of your fans, friends, followers, plays and pageviews on the most popular social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Last.fm, PureVolume, iLike). Watch this one.

Social Media Is Very Complex And Social Relationships Online Are Messy And Erratic. But It Works When You Know How To Use It.

Remember the saying about advertising that “I know half of our advertising spend is wasted, I just don’t know which half……” I first hard about this quote 20 years ago and I think it is from 19th Century merchant John Wanamaker. I think I can comfortably say “I know 80% of my advertising spend is wasted, I just don’t know the alternative….” The problem with TV and print advertising today is that it informs rather than sells, it rarely engages with consumers at all. Online ads are worse and currently lacking in brand advertiser value and the creative formats are outdated and ineffective.

What about social media? Consumer perceptions, social relationships and human behavior are messy, erratic, and maddeningly unpredictable. The debate on the effectiveness of social media to build brand and provide effective reach is ongoing. When marketers want to reach and engage audiences of social networks such as Facebook, they have two choices: buy advertising or start a social media viral campaign. Advertising on FB is of limited use we all know it. How often you read or click on any ads on Facebook. But we read the wall, we click in the links published by friends and go to Cafeworld to pick up gifts. These connected worlds are like new found oil hotspots. It is not only important to understand who influences purchase decisions in online communities but also the degree of impact. I don’t think we can use a broadcast paradigm if we really want to understand what is means.

Idea Couture’s senior interactive designer Jackie Siddall was featured in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week. A WSJ writer discovered her story in our Noodleplay site and decided to publish her story. It is an very interesting one. It is about how Jackie was prompted by a Twitter post by the retailer that led to her purchase of a folding kayak for $1,900. She doesn't use that go to work, she rides a bike...summer, winter or fall.

The vessel was one of about just 600 sold in 2009 by Folbot Inc., a small retailer in Charleston, S.C. "You can't buy that exposure," says the firm's co-owner, David AvRutick, who claims the incident speaks to the value of using social media for marketing when he was interviewed by WSJ. Mr. AvRutick says he dedicates about an hour a day—could also go to waste.

Mr. AvRutick says he regularly searches Twitter for tweets that mention kayaking and then sends messages to the people who wrote them. He connected with Jackie, the blogger who credited Twitter for exposing her to Folbot, after she posted a tweet that mentioned she wanted a kayak.   Jackie later asked Mr. AvRutick via Twitter if he would send her some photos of her folding kayak being made, and he provided about 20. After it arrived, she says she decided to write a blog post about the whole experience.

Let me see if this works for me. I am looking for a Leica M8 so I will be posting that and see of anyone would contact me through Twitter or Facebook. Many brands are embracing social media. One success story is Starbucks. Starbucks Official full time Tweeter is Brad Nelson and Starbucks isn’t just any brand on Twitter, with Brad at the helm, they’re doing many things right. A former barista, Brad is now manning the Twitter ship and he’s responding to questions or mentions of Starbucks, trying to help customers find resolutions to their problems, and putting out fires left and right. Twitter will soon be part of a company's call center,,scary.

Your Smart Phone Could Also Be A Spy Phone. It Is Possible That It Broadcasts Your Location WIthout Your Knowledge. There's No Place To Hide.

I was watching Eagle Eyes last weekend, I was thinking what happened there is actually not unlikely, we’re being watched every second. Forget about your PC spyware, they’re nothing compare with mobile phone spyware that enabled call- and text-monitoring and most of all allow anyone to tap into the phone from remotely and activate its microphone, even when it is turned OFF.

So It doesn’t matter if you have an iPhone, Blackberry or any Android phones. These spywares are not expensive (often free) or difficult to purchase or install. Your cell phone can also tell your location. We all need our cell phones, now there's no where to hide.  There are many of these spy services out there for people who are desperate to monitor their children or employees. Companies such as Mobile Spy will help you monitor their call, mobile web browsing and text message activities. You can just log into your Mobile Spy account from any computer and see everything including GPS locations too! Scary!

One popular spyware for mobile phone is the Flexispy. They come in four packages with the high end Flexispy Pro-X which include features such as listen in on LIVE calls, secret mobile GPS tracker, read SMS messages, phone call history, email, and secretly listen in on the phone's surroundings.The entry level is the Flexispy Bug which allows remote listening only. It turns your phone into a bug so you can listen to everything.

Are you safe? probably not. A quick way to check if you phone is bugged, look for sudden drop in battery power, and then unusually billing activity with random numbers. If you for whatever reasons need to engage in a secret conversations, take the battery off.

As early as 1997, the National Reconnaissance Organization warned that any cell phone can be turned into a microphone and transmitter for the purpose of listening to conversations in the vicinity of the phone. This is basically done by transmitting to the cell phone a maintenance command on the control channel. This command places the cellular telephone in the 'diagnostic mode.' When this is done, conversations in the immediate area of the telephone can be monitored over the voice channel. 
This diagnostic mode was originally designed for remote software update. Now with LBS, not only they can listen in, they can locate you within feet. OK, when do they start making anti-spy software for cell phones?

Don't expect these privacy risks to go away. The reality is all government have no interest to fix it or make these products illegal. The more they can find out about you the better protected they feel. It is like 1984.

Should Banks Get Into Virtual Currencies? I Want My Facebook Savings Account.

Facebook’s Gareth Davis said at the GamesBeat conference in San Francisco earlier this year that Facebook is “looking at” a virtual currency, that makes perfect sense. Is is a pure virtual currency or is it kind of a dual currency, meaning including real money? A Facebook currency can facilitate a lot of new behaviors. A virtual currency and payment ecosystem has already been slowly growing within Facebook over the last 2 years.

Virtual currencies do exist today, either through offer providers such as OfferPal, Super Rewards, Peanut Labs, and Gambit, direct credit card or Paypal/Amazon/Google payments through providers like Jambool and Spare Change, or mobile payments through providers like Zong and Paymo. But a Facebook currency is one step forward.

China is taking virtual currency very seriously. China worries that “virtual” game money could affect its ability to control its money supply. So virtual currencies are now regulated in China, probably not by the central bank. No kidding. It has yet to become part of G7 agenda. There is a reason for the concern. Last year, nearly $2 billion in virtual currency was traded in China, according to the China Internet Network Information Center. Some experts say they believe there is a much larger underground economy in the virtual world. People are trading things.

What about currency exchange? In the first quarter of 2010, social sites IMVU and MyYearbook will launch a virtual currency exchange allowing users from either service to exchange currency between the sites. This is a small step. Currency Connect is billed as a "cross property virtual currency exchange" system similar to how you would change US dollars into Japanese Yen, But, it does make me wonder whether a bank or credit card company should get into the game. How about a standard online currency? Someone we can use to invest and earn interest online? I want to sell my CafeWorld in Facebook if the price is right.

Google's Goggles: From Visual Search To Face Search. What's Next?

What’s next in search? From text-based search to audio search and now coming to search-by-sight? What-you-see-is-what you-can-search is an interesting idea. It will be soon be available for smart phones and Google's Chrome browser. So what exactly does it do? Imagine you can point a phone on a product you saw in a store, searches on that would display including reviews, prices and availability etc. This will be a killer app.

This Google’s toy project, according to Google engineer Xiuduan Fang is about image-based search, "I am working on a 20% project to facilitate the input of Web image searching. Chrome extension for Web Goggles.” Just in case you don’t know, the 20% figure refers to a Google program that permits engineers to devote a fifth of their time to whatever they think is cool. The idea that you can drag an image into a box and search results will be shown. Google Goggles currently is available as an application for phones running Google's Android OS, but they are working to release other versions, too. A Web browser interface would expand the service's availability beyond phones.

There are plenty of situations where you might want to point your phone at a subject while out and about. Imagine in a wine store, in the supermarket, in a department store or electronic stores. What it does is they compare an uploaded image to a database of billions Google has collected and analyzed. Just like those facial recognition software they used in CSI. It can recognize landmarks and read the text of any products, but until Google works out privacy controls it doesn't make use of its ability to recognize faces. I can see law enforcement people holding up those phones in train stations and airports. Is that a good idea?

Here’s a better application: Drag a photo of your exboyfriend or girlfriend into Facebook’s Goggles and it will show you hundreds of faces that resemble your ex and help you to look for replacement. You can then invite to your Facebook CafeWorld and get to know them a bit more. Just in case you’re curious of how those software works. Our faces have numerous, distinguishable landmarks, the different peaks and valleys that make up facial features. These landmarks are defined as nodal points. Each human face has approximately 80 nodal points. Some of these measured by the software are: distance between the eyes ;width of the nose depth of the eye sockets; The shape of the cheekbones and the length of the jaw line These nodal points are measured creating a numerical code, called a faceprint, representing the face in the database. Camera angle and light variance can create a bit of a problem.

Another applications that I think makes sense is ATM and credit card security. The software is able to quickly verify a customer's face. After a customer consents, the ATM or check-cashing kiosk captures a digital image of him. The FaceIt software then generates a faceprint of the photograph to protect customers against identity theft and fraudulent transactions. By using the facial recognition software, there's no need for a picture ID, bankcard or personal identification number (PIN) to verify a customer's identity. This can definitely cut down cedit card fraud.

Is Facebook And Twitter Bad For Your Brain? Or It Acutally Makes You A Better Person?

Here is an old vision of a high-tech future. It is old magazine illustration in 1969 a Japanese Sunday magazine, which show life in the future, pervaded by computers. This illustration “The Rise of the Computerized School,” by Shigeru Komatsuzaki is an illustrated scenario of what schools will be like in the future. Sort of Webex type of online delivery and interactive learning via a tablet.

I always find it fascinating to go back to see the future, comics and movies are the best place to see the future. In those worlds, there are always concern of the computer taking over of the Big Brother is controlling everything. Funny I’ve never seen an illustration, comic of movie that have anything similar to the Facebook or Twitter of the world. I guess it is never easy imagining the future. There are things we simply cannot imagine. With kids and grown-ups spending so much time in the social networking world, we never really understand the full implications on us. Twitter is everywhere. And yes, Twitter is coming to the X-box.

Does Facebook make us better persons or more sociable? And the idea that our most of our private lives are now semi-public, at least to our friends. Everyone knows what I was doing this weekend, good thing or bad thing? With camera phone being a standard feature, with the tap of a screen your life story is now shared by tens of thousands of people, some you know and some you don’t. Your thoughts and feelings are broadcasted to the world; I’m talking about the immediacy and accessibility of Twittermessages that make private conversations public. The space between public and private are dangerously blurred.

What about kids? Neuroscientist warns that social networks harm children’s brains. He suggests that sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Bebo are said to shorten attention spans, encourage instant gratification and make young people more self-centered. The claims from neuroscientist Susan Greenfield will make disturbing reading for the millions whose social lives depend on the stream of messages coming in everyday. I don't think it is just young people, we all have Blackberry or iPhone addictions. I am always constantly my Blackberry just to see if I've missed anything from the 83 groups that I joined. I called it staying in touch.

Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University neuroscientist and director of the Royal Institution, believes repeated exposure could effectively 'rewire' the brain. Computer games and fast-paced TV shows were also a factor, she said. We know how small babies need constant reassurance that they exist. My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment.' I don’t’ buy it. I would argue it allows kids to adapt to the fast moving world of data overload and learn to make fast decisions based on multiple sources of data feeding to them. It is like training a fighter pilot when one is 16, it is a lot easier as they can handle all input and perform real-time sense-making.

Having said that, I strongly urge readers not to check your Facebook or Twitter during a bath. And if for whatever reasons you do, don't be like this 17-year-old Romanian girl and risk your well-being to Tweet. Maria Barbu was, in fact, in the tub while using Twitter when she likely reached to plug in her charger with a wet hand, electrocuting herself in the process. It is called Twittercide. Yes, social networking can be dangerous.

Random Thoughts: From Aviva Community Fund To Positive Social Change To Women Empowerment.

I was so excited that our Aviva Community Program is getting such good response even before the official launch. It is a very important project for both our client and IC because it is something we truly believe in. It is about 1/ Empowering change in our communities while building brand 2/ Prove that social media is not a hype and if you use it right it is the most powerful communication medium 3/ Authenticity is the key ingredient of marketing, this program is about action and not just words. Check out the program here It is truly where "Marketing Innovation" meets "Social Innovation".

The idea is Aviva Canada will be introducing a nation-wide pilot positive social change competition supported by see a large-scale $500,000 donation put towards the fulfillment of positive community changes in neighborhoods across Canada. So far our metrics are indicating that this will be a super hit for an insurance company successfully social media to drive awareness and action for positive social change and brand awareness. Quick stats to date (before official launch): Ideas created: 800+ (see map below), Registered Users: 60,000+ Site Votes: 160,000+ Comments: 6,400+ Not to mention the crazy Facebook links.  Kudos to the client and the IC team John, Paul, Caroline, Jeff, Jackie, Claire, Cheesan, Andrew, Patrick, Ryan (did I miss anyone?). Lot of hard work, big thinking and flawless execution. Thank you team!

I received some interesting positive feedbacks and discussion on an earlier post this week titled “A Simple Life Or Green Living Are Not The Solutions. They Distract Us From The Real Number One Problem”. I’ve received a dozen of emails and some great comments /discussions from the linkedin group "Design For Social Change" which I'd like to share here:

Manuel Toscano, Design Principal, Zago NY

“There are many problems and many systems that can benefit from more design thinking, more involvement and support from the design community, but I wound't argue that it should start from one place, or in one way. I say this even while agreeing with you that empowering women (everywhere) is proven to be the social investment that brings the most significant returns.”

Jeremy Faludi. Green Design Strategist, SF

"I agree that nowhere near enough attention is given to this issue. The key is that it's not just a social issue--it's an environmental issue. Empowering women in developing countries is the only effective (and the only humane and responsible) way to stop the population bomb. Easing population pressure helps solve all the other environmental problems we have (all forms of resource depletion, and all forms of pollution). The fact that it's also pivotal in fixing a lot of social and economic problems is icing on the cake. I agree, it should be a very high priority. (Note, though: why is it all three of us who've talked about this so far are men?)”

Kara Pecknold, Design Researcher at Emily Carr Institute, Van

“I'll jump in as one female voice in this discussion. I'm sure there are others who could add additional ideas. I concur, we're past "green living. After working with a group of women in Rwanda, I would suggest that empowerment is definitely needed. Actually finding out what these women regard as empowerment is something else altogether. The "developing world" is a broad title and each country faces its own political, social and cultural realities that can affect this empowering. But talking to the people we perceive as needing it might be a step in the right direction. They likely have some good ideas to contribute to this conversation. “

Maz Kessler, Creative Director, NY

“Hi all - such a huge area for discussion, but extremely glad to see it surfaced here. there's definitely momentum building around an increasing awareness (at last!) of the benefits of investing in women globally, and what this brings to communities, regions and nations. This rapidly emerging awareness (hesitate to call it a movement yet...) has recently been given mainstream visibility in high-income countries through e.g. Nick Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn's book 'half the sky'... through the 'girl effect', through the NGO Women to Women, and eve ensler's work in DRC etc……as designers we can bring our creativity to communications and advocacy in high-income countries, as well as into advocacy and design projects in low-income countries (anyway, immense and great topic and yes I'm also female)”.

Growing up in big cities and having lived and worked in Boston, London, Toronto, LA, HK, Milan, the women empowerment thing was never under my radar screen. I worked with some of the smartest and well educated women and it never came to my mind this is such a big issue in the developing worlds. I always thought we were making good progress. While a lot of progress has been made in the last 20 years improving women's health and education, women in the developing world are still at the periphery of the economy, marginalized in segregated low-paying jobs, or practically barred from education and work opportunities. The situations are different country to country but the problem is still very serious as a whole.

I am very interested in what innovation is needed to make the change. Social innovation that links to empowering women is what I am talking about. An example, in 1999, 35 women on the isolated island of Char Montaz in Bangladesh discovered they could make a huge difference in their community by going into business (none of them have MBAs no surprise). Taking a lot of criticism since they were breaking society's rules by working outside the home and that’s a big deal there. They later got funding from the World Bank and the UN Development Program, and assistance from a local non-governmental organization Prokaushali Sangsad Ltd.

They started to build battery-powered direct current lamps to replace kerosene lanterns widely used in local homes—a known source of indoor air pollution. And as they mastered lamp construction, they also learned about quality control, business development and marketing. Soon, their critics were their customers. Within two years, they were bringing low-cost light and clean power to over 1,200 households, shops, and boats, and 300 businesses. Shops stayed open longer, children spent more time on school work at home, and incomes increased by 30 percent. My point is, this is not just a moral or a human rights or a political issue, it's deep down also an economic issue as well as global climate change issue.

Hope everyone have a very scary weekend.

Creative Capitalism + Social Innovation = New Social Enterprises That Make Money And Change The World.

We need more (and more innovative) social enterprises and I really want to see a top tier MBA programs with specialization in Social Enterprises. Call it B-school needs S-school. There are so many problems out there and sometimes we feel we are almost giving up. Our capitalist system is not adjusting well to these shocks. It is almost pointless for these endless debates on how things got to this point and who is to blame. The point remains: We've got to change it—and change it fast – and change it for the better.

The last thing we want to replace these problems with a set of newer problems, I’ve seen in many case when smart people think they have a solution, but they are simply migrating the problems. There is hope. The good surprise is that business—the same institutions that bear a fair amount of the responsibility for the current situation—is also the most potent force for bringing change. No government alone can make that happen. Businesses are powerful, if we can align the forces. There are hundreds of social enterprises are doing exactly that.

Who invented the social enterprise? Or the better idea is how do we reinvent social enterprises so they can be good business and good citizens. Not good business and bad citizens or bad business good citizens. Peter Drucker argued that in this post-capitalist society (not sure I agree with that tern), managers must learn to negotiate a new environment with a different set of work rules and career expectations. Businesses exist to serve social purposes, they have to function in ways that make sense to the society in which they are situated – and in the case of multinational corporations, they often have to function in ways that make sense across more than one society, at a deep level.

Social enterprises can change the world for the much, much better. If social entrepreneurs can navigate around the challenges and become some of the most popular brands of the world. For now, they need to improve the odds and make sure that they can proof that it works. I am very convinced that the concept works, it is just exceptional challenges that needed to be overcome. Some realities. I don’t know the success rate of social enterprises. I don’t think it is higher or lower than the average business. Like any business, social enterprises fail—because businesses fail. But how come social enterprise didn’t scale—like many other businesses with successful business models?

The way I see it, it is not uncommon that traditional social enterprises did not attract the best and the brightest entrepreneurs, many are into the mission and not interested in the business. The other reason is there is a lack of appetite or aspiration for them to take it global or to a larger scale. And then there is the question of capital availability and time frame to achieve scale. Too many are forced to think survival, rather than innovation and growth. There needs to be series ambitions to make sure the social enterprises is leverage its mission and commitment to changing the world and transform our future. That’s a big mission. And it is not mutually exclusive to pursue the mission and not ignoring the competitive dynamics of the industry that you operate in. What’s the best example? Here is one.

Rubicon Programs is a $16mm social enterprise n SF focusing on helping with employment. It started initially as a drop-in center in Richmond, California, for very low-income people with severe disabilities. Their first social enterprises were very small programs that were seen more providing with some training than anything else. Today Rubicon has evolved into an organization that today serves low-income, homeless and mentally disabled people in the businesses, housing and services it provides. About one-third of the people currently served have a mental health disability, so its original focus is still a part, but not the largest part, of what Rubicon does. It is a one-stop shop for those trying to escape poverty. It not only helps clients find homes and jobs but also offers career, mental heath, and family counseling, as well as technological training and money-management programs.

Take Rubicom Bakery as an example, they produce a range of delicious cakes and tarts. The high-quality and handcrafted products are baked from "scratch" recipes and use only the best of ingredients including fresh-grated carrots, Maine blueberries, real butter and Dutch chocolate. We use absolutely no preservatives and our products include no transfats. The bakery also serves as a unique training center, preparing people for employment with Rubicon or other employers. Job training, counseling, and peer support provided in a dedicated baking workshop, classroom with audio-visual capacities, and a job search center with computer terminals help participants develop their work and life skills. Everything integrated, almost like the Cornell School of Hotel Management. There is even an online store too.

Social Enterprises Will Become The Next Big Global Brands. But Not All Socal Enterprises Are The Same.

Let me make a prediction, 10 of the top 100 most popular brands in 5 years time will be Social Enterprise Brands. What are they? They are a new form of organizations. We see more and more development of a mixed economy of companies coming together to further progress on social, economic & environmental well being. Expect to plenty of innovation where Social Technologies meet Social Enterprises.

What exactly is a social enterprise? A social enterprise is a BUSINESS with primarily social objectives whose profits are reinvested for that purpose in the business or the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximize profit for shareholders. But it doesn’t mean that they are not maximizing their effort to create competitive advantages to create economical value in additional to social value. There are many ways to do this but they should not just means non-profits business:

1. Create economic value in the form of profits and use 100% of that to benefit larger purposes. Often include community-based services such as community banking etc.
2. Create economic value by emphasizing double or triple bottom line and use that as a core element of the business model such as value based goods/services esp. fair trade etc. A business that, beyond the profit motive, has a social mission built into their business model or strategy.
3. Create economic value in the form transforming current business model to include social components in a meaningful way.
4. Create value in terms of jobs and some revenue to sustain operations by specifically targeting groups with challenges and to provide training and job opportunities (this employment model is closer to non-profit).

I don’t think Social Enterprises should compete based on lower cost (salaries or subsidized rent etc.). They cannot just rely on a lower cost structure and compete with for-profit businesses with a lower quality product/services, but instead they need to focus on creating innovative business model that allows them to compete just as any regular businesses.

They should not just exist to provide jobs, that’s a pure non-profit’s role, they should be creating value by developing human capital and skilled labor just as regular businesses. The model of many employment-based social enterprise is not 100% Social Enterprises. They provide employment opportunities and job training to its target populations or "clients," that are people with high barriers to employment such as disabled, homeless, at-risk youth, and ex-offenders.

Generally this model is predicated on the appropriateness of jobs it creates for its clients, regarding skills development, and consistency with clients' capabilities and limitations, as well as its commercial viability. This model is usually embedded: the social program is the business, its mission centers on creating employment opportunities for clients. I hope to see the more innovative Social Enterprises that can take this further by innovating more and be able to produce a decent return on capital deployed. It needs to move away from a traditional non-profit model to becoming a doubled-bottom line Social Ventures.

There should be a commitment to both investors and the capacity of individuals and communities to help themselves. Social Enterprises should empower communities and build social capital; you CANNOT take financial capital out of the equation. Not sure if you think this makes any sense to you.

Scott Griffith (CEO, Zipcar) was asked the question by Qn (A Yale School of Management publication) on as the CEO of a social enterprise, how does he make the call when his social goals and profit motive conflict? This is his response:

“Just by the nature of our business model, the social benefits are accruing as we grow. Most of our members don't own cars. As a result of that, every car we put on, we know through surveys, takes about 20 personal cars away, because people choose not to buy a car or they sell a car. “

“That 20-for-1 ratio also benefits household discretionary income. Through surveys we know that between $6,000 and $7,000 a year of transportation spending comes back into the household after they've spent on Zipcar. A clear social and economic benefit to the community that accrues as that happens. “

“As a lot of the economists will tell you, any time you start to pay for something per unit as opposed to a fixed cost, you get much smarter about how you spend your money. So as you transition car transportation from a fixed cost, being car ownership, to a variable or a unit cost, like Zipcar, people get a lot smarter about grouping their trips. And they just make the trade-off: Should I walk? Should I take public transit? Should I use the Zipcar? Their vehicle miles traveled get cut in half. The big purchasing driver, in our case, is economics. That's the steak, and the sizzle is the social good that comes with it, and the sense that they're doing something good for the environment and for the community as a result of their behavior shift toward Zipcar.”

What Are Next Big Innovations For Personal Banking? Yes, The Current Customer Experiences In General Are Pretty Bad.

What are the next disruptions for personal financial services? Are they ready for a full “reset” ? Can they develop new perspectives fast enough and overcome their dogmas? How do we inject out-of-the box thinking and make them work within-the-box? Or can we re-shape the box? The last 6 weeks, we’ve been focusing some of the most interesting paradigm shifting ideas of how to transform banking, insurance and healthcare. Back to personal banking, there are so many opportunities for innovation.

Here’s one interesting one. iPhone check deposit. The military bank and insurance provider USAA recently launched mobile check-deposit technology, which lets users deposit checks from anywhere using an iPhone. USAA customers take photos of both sides of a check with the phone and transmit the images to the bank, which then verifies and makes the deposit.

The bank has just one branch in San Antonio and, because of its military legacy, has customers in Afghanistan and Iraq. That is so cool because it integrates with existing checking habits. It is reported that USAA has deposit growth nearly triple the industry average over the past three years. Further, 17% of all its customers across investing, insurance and banking use USAA's mobile app, which also facilitates on-phone trading, filing claims for auto accidents, loan calculations and the usual access to account information.

The future of banking is mBanking. The phone will become your wallet (contactless payments), your branch (for deposit) and your credit card. Just don’t lose it. We’re prototyping a number of cool mobile wallet and developing scenarios how they would fit it into a social-media culture. And what it means for SMEs etc.

Nokia will be a big player and could use P2P payments as an entry-point to emerging markets -- and a new revenue stream. It's partnered with Redwood City, Calif.-based Obopay to launch Nokia Money, a service that lets users make financial transactions on their phones. With Nokia Money, which will start to roll out in 2010 in undisclosed markets, mobile users can send money to other mobile users, pay merchants and utility bills, or top up prepaid cellphone minutes. I think more will join. We will end up having Nokia Money, iPhone Dollars, Tata Rupees, Ericsson Krona. Then we will need another kind of currency exchange.

Even Before Any Iranian Revolution, We’re Seeing A Twitter Revolution. This One Is Not Ending Anytime Soon.

This week we see how Twitter becomes CNN newsgathering and distribution tool when everything else gone dark. Twitter is probably mentioned every two minutes on CNN. Because the world relies on Twitter to report what was going on in Iran, Twitter had decided to push off its scheduled maintenance Tuesday morning as the conflict continued. As it happened, Twitter was a major if not sole source of information coming out of Iran. In order to keep the flow of communication to the outside world flowing, Twitter said it would not turn off its service until Iran calmed down. We under estimate how powerful this micro blogging tool can be.

On the flip side, there’s no control over how people use Twitter. There’s always a danger when totalitarian government or organization can abuse it with maliciously intent to deliberately spread misinformation and cause widespread panic. How can we prevent that form happening? There will be more and more situations that we can only reply on Twitter for information, and we'd better figure out ways in which we can authenticate information. Twitter's 140-character-only environment makes it even easier to mislead people, as it's very hard to make a decent argument in 140 characters. There is a very high risk of information being misinterpreted. Then there is confusion over authorship and questions around where the original sources are from. How do we deal with reposting is another challenge.

In additional to causing a revolution with citizen journalism, Twitter can potentially revolutionalize gaming. Soon someone will develop the first ever Twitter-based game. The gaming experience will be very different from motion and graphic games, it will be text-based and may involve secret codes and broadcasting messages to a larger crowd to mobilize the underground forces in Iran or maintain an intelligent dialogue with a mainframe computer controlling missiles in North Korea etc. Not sure how to categorize games like this. Or if they already exist?

Can Twitter Save The World? Or Can Twitter Save Your Brand? What's Your Twitter Strategy?

Twitter is as hot as Facebook these days, we hear about these new (or not so new) things and wonder how they've taken off and how they will evolve and become part of our everyday life. I don’t think anybody has it all figured out yet. That’s part of the fun.

It is reasonable to expect that in the 18 months new tools will replace some of the first movers. Twitter’s problems as we all know, they are not the only social tool to have it only half-right.  Will Twitter be the Friendster of microblogging?  As the power of the network becomes the utility of the network and each one is working to find its place in the social media ecosystem, LinkedIn for jobs and resume, MySpace for music and pop culture, Facebook for friends and Twitter for life-streaming.

But what does it mean for organizations? Take a look at Dell’s $1 Million Twitter Strategy. Dell reported that their Twitter account has generated over $1 million in revenue over the past year and a half through sale alerts. All of this, without paying a dime for their accounts.  Do we call it Social Spamming? Dell actually has 19 English speaking Twitter accounts, each targeting a different community ranging from support to community to deals. At most these accounts have drawn over 7,000 followers, lots of overlap I suspect.

CEOs and CMOs are getting into the bandwagon. Notable tweeting CMOs include Jeffrey Hayzlett of Kodak (@jeffreyhayzlett) and Barry Judge of Best Buy (@BestBuyCMO), each of whom ties his account closely to their brands. And each interprets the boundaries between the personal voice and the voice of the brand a bit differently. Of course, each brand has different social-media agendas that these executives are trying to push forward with variables ranging from the brands themselves and the strategic objectives to the target audiences they serve and the styles of these individuals. Both are using Twitter for strategic reasons.

Dell also drives conversations with their power user customers through an integrated blogging and advertising campaign called Digital Nomads. So segmentation is still valid. Messaging is still important. And you still need an offer (customer proposition). For Twitter, the question is still where is the money? A report from Credit Suisse speculated that Google’s YouTube video sharing site could be on track to lose approximately $470 mm in 2009. Google paid $1.76billion for something that continue to lose almost $470mm a year. Market share is 41% of US online video watching, does it mean something? Not only Twitter needs a strategy, even YouTube needs one. You cannot charge people for user-generated content which makes up the lion’s share of the video library.  The other option is to charge content providers that are not consumers.

Twitter is still twittering away with more and more people using it creatively. Take Malaria No More as an example, Ashton Kutcher turned a friendly media rivalry into a greater good when he offered to donate 10,000 mosquito nets to Malaria No More if he won the challenge of gaining more twitter followers than CNN by Thurs April 16 midnight. Yes Twitter can be used to save the world.  CNN was quick to respond and matched Ashton’s offer as he achieved the million follower mark first. The power of Twitter. It is by far the most important social networking trend for 2009, and has the potential to be larger than Facebook in terms of numbers of users multiplied by numbers of messages read or sent.  Whatever you thought you knew about Twitter 6 weeks ago may already be out of date. Watch this space.

Are You Suffering From Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD)?

A growing body of research in the area of addiction suggests that Internet Addiction Disorder is becoming a real problem, it is a psychophysiological disorder involving tolerance; withdrawal symptoms; affective disturbances; and interruption of social relationships. The most common one is Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD). 

To be diagnosed as having Facebook Addiction Disorder, a person must meet certain criteria. At least 2 or 3 of the following 6 criteria must be present at any time during a 6-8 months period:

1/. The first thing is tolerance. This refers to the need for increasing amounts of time on Facebook to achieve satisfaction and/or significantly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of time/ The often have multiple Facebook windows opened at any one time. 3 is usually a sign and over 5 you're helpless.

2/. After reduction of Facebook use or cessation, it causes distress or impair social, personal or occupational functioning such as wondering why your Vista is so fast and improved etc. These include anxiety; obsessive thinking about what is written on your wall on Facebook etc.

3/. Important social or recreational activities are greatly reduced and or migrated to Facebook. Instead of sending an email you post a message on your friend’s page about canceling a lunch appointment. You now stop answering your phone call from your Mom and insist she should contact you through Facebook chat.

4/ This is getting serious if you start kiss your girlfriend's home page or a VRML virtual walk through a park is your idea of a date.

5/ Your bookmark takes 20 minutes just to scroll from top to bottom or 8 of 10 people in your friend's list you have no idea of who they are.

6/ When you meet people you start introducing yourself by following "see you in Facebook" or your dog has its own Facebook profile. You invite anyone you've met and any notifications, messages and invites reward you with an unpredictable high, much like gambling.

As we spend more and more time online no questions it can be addictive. Some say that there is no such thing as Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). I am not sure we’ve any answer for that yet. I am sure the pharma companies will be quick to say that there is medication solution out there with psychoactive drugs.

So how many kinds of disorders are out there? Are they really disorders of just the pharma companies twant us to believe there are. Here are my list and don't count that they will make it to the medical dictionary. May be a start-up can come up with an idea to help solve this problem.

• Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD)
• Youtube Addiction Disorder (YAD)
• Google Search Addiction Disorder (GSAD)
• Widget Addiction Disorder (WAD)
• Twitter Addiction Disorder (TAD)
• Blackberry Addiction Disorder (BAD)

I did not include the Mac Addiction Disorder (MAD) as there is no cure for this. I have many friends who are suffering this and there's no sign that they are getting out. When we walk into an Apple store we realize that there’s nothing else for us to buy. That’s the first sign of MDD and I know many people suffer from this one without knowing it. The only cure is keep buying the next Mac products whatever it is. Is addiction a problem or information overload is the bigger problem? Between blogs, RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook, MSN, LinkedIn, Digg, and whatever next new social networking apps, we can keep ourselves busy 24 by 7. There is still much hand-wringing and second-guessing among those who spend a lot of their lives online both at work and at home as to whether their online activities is any addiction problem. When telephone was available for the mass for the first time, a lot of people started spending a lot of time on the phone, was that addiction problem? Is iPod an addiction? There are people in my office listening to their iPods while at work and my teenager sons pretty much using their iPods 24 hrs, they listen to it even when they go to bed. Is that also addiction? Or it is just a fetish?

Call it Facebook addiction or fetish, I see this as progress of enlightenment for the modern life. Our modern culture is unconsciously penetrated by the information (useful and useless) and we are all struggling with them. Social networks collapse the difference between culture and practical life and our culture is codified and distributed through the Internet. As a result the ‘culture’ industry is now being expanded beyond fashion, music and magazines.

Many of these information that we’re exposed to on the Internet does not at all ‘signify’ true information or freedom from deception but it has reduced significantly the impact of any mass deception. The needs of people to connect, along with the growth of social connectivity, would raise the quality of the social whole to a new and higher level.The organic composition of our social networks is growing. That determines network as means of finding self-identities and not only as resources. Addiction may not be such a bad thing after all.

Have a great weekend.