We Baby Boomers are benefiting significantly from the gig economy, says author, speaker and optimist Tim Drake. Not just as consumers by it providing lower prices and more convenience, but as participants too. It’s an important bolt-on to something bigger, he says, enabling new ways of doing business to emerge, and a fresh outlook on what ‘work’ is. But is it something we should think about taking a much more active role in? Baby Boomers fit into what I call Generation Cherry. Indeed, that … [Read more...] about Why the gig economy fits well with the lives of Baby Boomers
Trends
SDF podcast 9: Either back to the future or fast forward to a new normal
In the latest episode 9 of The Small Data Forum podcast, hosted by Thomas Stoeckle in conversation with regulars Sam Knowles and me, we enjoyed a wide-ranging, lively conversation over the course of 45 minutes on topics as diverse as the 2017 general election campaign (what went wrong for Theresa May and the Conservatives with a clear focus on the politics) and the latest global communications report from the Annenberg School of Communications (we focused especially on PR and AVE). Writer of … [Read more...] about SDF podcast 9: Either back to the future or fast forward to a new normal
For Immediate Release 92: Marketing failures of the UK’s Conservative Party
We said we'd do one episode together of the For Immediate Release podcast as a 'limited return engagement,' emulating The Hobson and Holtz Report that Shel and I did for ten years. We did do that with episode 84 in April. We enjoyed it so much we decided to do another one, and so we recorded episode 92 yesterday. In keeping with our 'hefty but good' slogan, Shel and I enjoyed a conversation over an hour and forty minutes that covered a big agenda: There’s a new mobile-based social … [Read more...] about For Immediate Release 92: Marketing failures of the UK’s Conservative Party
20 Highlights from Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2017 report
The 2017 edition of venture capitalist Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends report was published last week. As with previous editions, the 2017 report offers credible insights into some of the significant trends that are shaping, evolving and defining the internet and our use of it. This year, there's a strong focus on online advertising, interactive games, healthcare, and much more. Weighing in at 355 slides, the presentation deck PDF is a hefty opus with much to glean and digest. I've … [Read more...] about 20 Highlights from Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2017 report
The end of AVE in PR?
If there's one phrase guaranteed to generate debate in the PR business, it's 'advertising value equivalence,' AVE for short. In simple terms, AVE looks at the volume of space an editorial article takes in a print publication, or the amount of time an editorial audio or video segment plays, and equates its value to the price you'd have paid if you had bought the equivalent-size space or time as advertising. For decades the use of AVE has been a controversial activity, one that has been … [Read more...] about The end of AVE in PR?
Opera: a good browser alternative to Google Chrome
For much of the past decade, I've been a champion of Google Chrome. It's been my browser of choice not only on the PC and Mac desktops but also across all my Android mobile devices. I've now switched to a different browser, and the switch may well be long-term if not permanent. That browser is Opera, a browser I first tried in 2006 on a Nokia phone, but a thoroughly modern product today that mirrors much of what Google Chrome offers - built-in tabbed browsing, a bookmarks bar, … [Read more...] about Opera: a good browser alternative to Google Chrome
How to play your part in fighting fake news
One of the scourges of modern connected times is the rise of so-called fake news, a phenomenon that's invasive and pervasive and a driver of distrust about what you read, see and hear online as well as fear, uncertainty and doubt about the sources that publish it. And not only such reactions upon immediate discovery, but also the unwitting spread of fake news by those who publish, talk about or share such content without knowing it's false. It's not new by any means - in the pre-internet … [Read more...] about How to play your part in fighting fake news
Artificial intelligence survey finds UK public broadly optimistic
This article titled "Artificial intelligence survey finds UK public broadly optimistic" was written by Ian Sample Science editor, for theguardian.com on Monday 24th April 2017 23.01 UTCApart from fears of mass unemployment, accidents with machinery, restrictions on freedom, increased economic inequality and a devalued human experience, the public are broadly optimistic about the arrival of artificial intelligence, according to one of the first surveys of British opinions about the technology. … [Read more...] about Artificial intelligence survey finds UK public broadly optimistic