Mediaboss Marketing

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) In a wide-ranging talk about the Internet and government, Al Gore urged the techie crowd at South By Southwest to use digital tools to improve government.

The former vice president sat for a conversation with Napster co-founder and Web entrepreneur Sean Parker on Monday at SXSW in a flashy tete-a-tete that drew an audience of thousands at the Austin Convention Center and more viewers via a live stream.

"Our democracy has been hacked," said Gore, framing Washington gridlock and the effects of special interest money in digital terms.

To fix what he called a no-longer functional U.S. government, Gore urged the audience to begin a new "Occupy Democracy" movement. He pushed for the creation and implementation of digital tools and social media to "change the democratic conversation."

Gore talked of a "Wiki-democracy" of "digital flash mobs calling out the truth" and "a government square that holds people accountable."

Parker, who was famously portrayed by Justin Timberlake in "The Social Network," has gotten into politics by investing in Votizen, an online network of voters that leverages social networks to campaign for their issues. He also sits on the board of NationBuilder, which also seeks to organize political change.

Parker said he believes social media is only its infancy of what it can do to spur action. He cited the Internet rally against the Stop Online Piracy Act as a hint of the power of social networks. He called the protest "Nerd Spring," alluding to the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East.

Both Gore and Parker derided the dominant role of television in elections and political dialogue. Change, Parker said, won't come from within the political system.

To applause, Gore added; "I can confirm that."

___

Excerpt from:
Gore says 'democracy has been hacked' at SXSW

Print

Posted 13 March 2012 00:30am by Jake Hird with 0 comments

Econsultancy has been discussing the ongoing transformation of organisations for a while now, as digital increasingly permeates their operations, capabilities and structures.

Ahead of ad:tech Melbourne, where Econsultancy is one of the media partners, I managed to catch up with one of the keynote speakers, Bettina Sherick, to discuss these changes, along with their challenges, benefits and the general direction digital is heading.

I work in International Theatrical Marketing group at 20th Century Fox, where we develop marketing campaigns that are used around the world to promote our film releases. As the SVP of Strategic Digital Marketing, Im responsible for making sure that digital is at the core of what we do.

The cinema-going audiences are avid consumers of digital content. We need to make sure that our messages reach them where they are, when they are deciding what movies to see.

Every aspect of our marketing mix is changing because of the proliferation of digital platforms and digital content. We have to think differently about our media mix, how our video content is cut, and how much content we need to fuel our social efforts.

More and more, movie fans are keen to share in an experience that takes them on a journey from that first teaser trailer right up to the opening day release. Its exciting and challenging at the same time.

Until just recently, a core team focused on all aspects of digital marketing. Recognising that everything we do needs to be digital, we divided the digital group, and integrated digital talent into each of the marketing groups.

Now we have a digital creative lead, a digital PR lead, a digital project manager, and also agency resources that support us on media, production, and social projects.

Read the original post:
Q&A: Bettina Sherick of 20th Century Fox on digital transformation and strategy

Want to be sure you have the perfect March Madness bracket this year? Not possible.

If you were to stack the amount of paper it would take to fill in every bracket with every possibility among the 68 teams who will play 67 games over the next three weeks, it would not fit inside the universe.

So says Michael Weimerskirch, a math professor at Augsburg College who gets paid to think about numbers and the way they affect the Kentuckys, Butlers and VCUs of the world.

But theres this small glimmer of hope. Weimerskirch says you could simply start flipping coins. The odds of finding perfection that way by flipping a coin to pick the winner of every game: 1-in-100,000,000,000,000,000,000. For those keeping score at home, thats 1-in-100 million trillion.

Or, to put it another way: Youre just as likely to win Powerball three consecutive times as you are to picking a perfect bracket by flipping a coin, Weimerskirch says.

Of course, the NCAA tournament is all about making the impossible seem possible. Butler, a school with only 4,000 kids, made it to the finals two years in a row. VCU started the tournament last year as a No. 11 seed and wound up playing in the Final Four.

For those setting their sights on winning their friendly office pool, there are, in fact, ways to improve your odds.

Weimerskirch suggests looking at the number of people in the pool. The more people in the pool, the more you must stray from picking a slate of straight-line favorites. Kentucky, by the way, is the odds-on pick at 2-1, followed by North Carolina at 6-1.

Its one thing to pick favorites to win the whole thing, but you have to know others are picking the favorites to win the whole thing, too, he said. So, if youre in an office pool with 1,000 people in it, you need to do something a little bit unusual.

He recommends selecting a No. 14 seed to make it to the Sweet 16. Or an 11 to go to the Final Four, a la VCU. You need something unusual to go your way, Weimerskirch says.

Here is the original post:
NCAA tournament: Picking a perfect bracket a tough numbers game

Want to be sure you have the perfect March Madness bracket this year? Not possible.

If you were to stack the amount of paper it would take to fill in every bracket with every possibility among the 68 teams who will play 67 games over the next three weeks, it would not fit inside the universe.

So says Michael Weimerskirch, a math professor at Augsburg College who gets paid to think about numbers and the way they affect the Kentuckys, Butlers and VCUs of the world.

But there's this small glimmer of hope. Weimerskirch says you could simply start flipping coins. The odds of finding perfection that way by flipping a coin to pick the winner of every game: 1-in-100,000,000,000,000,000,000. For those keeping score at home, that's 1-in-100 million trillion.

Or, to put it another way: You're just as likely to win Powerball three consecutive times as you are to picking a perfect bracket by flipping a coin, Weimerskirch says.

Of course, the NCAA tournament is all about making the impossible seem possible. Butler, a school with only 4,000 kids, made it to the finals two years in a row. VCU started the tournament last year as a No. 11 seed and wound up playing in the Final Four.

For those setting their sights on winning their friendly office pool, there are, in fact, ways to improve your odds.

Weimerskirch suggests looking at the number of people in the pool. The more people in the pool, the more you must stray from picking a slate of straight-line favorites. Kentucky, by the way, is the odds-on pick at 2-1, followed by North Carolina at 6-1.

It's one thing to pick favorites to win the whole thing, but you have to know others are picking the favorites to win the whole thing, too, he said. So, if you're in an office pool with 1,000 people in it, you need to do something a little bit unusual.

He recommends selecting a No. 14 seed to make it to the Sweet 16. Or an 11 to go to the Final Four, a la VCU.

Continued here:
Basketball brackets have you busted? Coin flip chances are 1-in-100 million trillion

12 March 2012 Last updated at 15:38 ET

The search for a British man who went missing in the Cayman Islands has been called off.

Nathan Clarke, 30, from Cheltenham, was last seen on 25 February on Grand Cayman. His phone was found in the sea.

The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service said only has phone has been found since he went missing 16 days ago.

Ch Insp Richard Barrow said: "We have completely exhausted the search areas at land and at sea, but unfortunately we have not been able to find Nathan."

Police say although the land and sea searches have been called off investigations into his disappearance were still "very active".

Hundreds of volunteers worked alongside police officers in the hunt for Mr Clarke - with 527 helping on one day.

He was last seen near Calico Jack's beach bar on West Bay Road on the Caribbean island wearing swimming shorts.

Ch Insp Barrow added: "I would like to thank all of the volunteers who came out day after day and tirelessly assisted our officers during the searches.

"I know that Nathan's parents, his brother and sister, his fiancee Lisa and her parents are also very grateful to all those who have helped and shown support during this difficult time."

See the original post:
Cayman missing hunt man hunt ends