Joi Ito, an activist, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist, spoke at Fortune's Brainstorm event in Half Moon Bay last week. Rebecca MacKinnon, frustrated with the blind optimism found in Silicon Valley, wrote about it. Joi warned that not all kinds of capitalism lead to greater freedom or spread wealth and opportunities to everybody. "The capitalists aren't really that helpful, generally," he said. It depends on the …
Winner of the George Parker Award for Excellence
I thought I was frustrated with this business. But after a quick visit to The Rules of Stupid, I now see my gripes are inconsequential. The blogger in question received this brief pitch from a recruiter: Please send your portfolio to superdave@enfatico.com Sent from my iPhone The lack of information and inherent assumptions therein made said blogger go ballistic. As anyone who reads this blog knows, I'm about fed up …
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Not Exactly A Dialogue
I'm a bit late to this party, but from what I can gather Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions desired to say that "digital media is not about technology but about quality of communication." So they commissioned a video from Geert Desager, a Microsoft Trade Marketing Manager in South East Asia to Bring the Love Back. [via Muse Communication] …
A Perspective From Where “Smoking A Fag” Is Perfectly OK
Lost amid the big Snickers ad controversy was the fact that Americans complained about an ad being aired in Britain. Here's a perspective from Britain, written by Paul Shearer, a founding partner of Arnold London: What's so amazing is that the ads were pulled because of complaints from the US. We Brits are supposed to be the upholders of all things Godlike. Is it the Obama influence? Or has Mr Bush got too much time …
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The Brief Looks At The Ad Biz With Depth
I'm not sure who's behind it, but there's a new blog called The Brief that seems to have a leg up on many other sources when it comes to ad news and gossip tidbits. Today, they have a piece on Kansas City's Bernstein-Rein: Bernstein-Rein has added three McDonald’s co-ops to its portfolio. B-R went up against some folks you probably have never heard of: Stern Advertising in Pepper Park, Ohio, and Moroch & Associates …
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Stock Photography, Up Close
Talk to any professional photographer today and they'll invariably seethe at the mention of istockphoto or other websites that are lowering the costs of stock photos (and videos), and becoming the first choice of many cost-squeezed agencies or clients. BusinessWeek takes a closer look: But what should photographers and graphic designers do? They need to target that part of the market that isn't looking for the lowest …
Payola
Ad Age knows how to start Monday off with a bang. The trade mag looked at figures from 100 companies that disclosed CMO-level compensation and determined that their average compensation was $1.5 million in 2007. About one-fourth of that came from salary ($358,000); bonus, perks and non-equity incentive pay made up another fourth ($360,000). The rest ($767,000) came from stock options and stock awards. Dell's Chief …
There’s Money In Remnants
Media buyers operating in the online space already know about advertising exchanges. For the mere mortals in account service or creative, the concept is a bit fuzzier. But thanks to The New York Times, ad exchanges are coming into focus. Big publishers try to sell Web site advertising space through their sales forces at high prices. Most cannot sell all their inventory, so they send the leftover, or “remnant,” space …
