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A colleague recently told me about an interesting interview he read with Ed Catmull, who just published a book on Pixar.  One of the key insights was that he observed how poor management allows organization to smother the creative genius of important company talent.  I’ve been fortunate, and intentional enough to avoid traditional organizational structures … Continue reading Zen Business & Creativity (Or six ways to die as a creative)

My friend Steve Ferussi and I are debuting what we hope will be a groundbreaking new product tomorrow at the Nashville Music City Marathon. Ladies & Gentlemen, I present to you the SpinDesk

That’s right: people don’t click on banner ads. And what’s more, the average user has learned to ignore them and anything that looks like them. “Banner blindness,” has become a serious issue for designers, and is terrifying to the droves of “Freemium” publishers and services out there. It also reminds us how important applied usability … Continue reading People Don’t Click Banner Ads Or Anything That Acts Like Them

There was a great deal of feedback and interest on my recent post on social media, so I’ve created a video version of the same content with additional commentary and information.  Filmed in my office rather quickly without all the expensive lights 😉

The announcement of the new National Broadband Plan is probably the biggest news for the web in a long time. The US wants to not only catch up with other countries in term of speed and connectivity, but wants to be the world leader. This is going to have some significant impacts on our future … Continue reading The US Broadband Plan Means Video Domination

Wasn’t advertising invented to overcome the limitations of word of mouth marketing? Until Social Media Marketing As A Service matures or establishes a reliable method of demonstrating ROI, it is not necessarily a smart investment for small or medium sized businesses. Beware of the hype. Of the thousands of “Social Media Gurus” popping up, how … Continue reading Beware Of The Social Media Marketing Maniacs!

Wow, great new website you have there! Too bad it’s useless to the new generation of web users on the go who need to find you! Smart phones are everywhere. At the rate we’re seeing their adoption, everyone will have them within 5 years.

Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman recently opined that the global economy is in a freefall, and that it could get much worse. He also noted in his regular column that deficits be damned, the government should spend its way out of the problem: that a protracted deep recession is ultimately worse than debt.

As I wrote in my previous blog, Paulson’s bailout package was the wrong move. Today, he announced that he will scrap the “buddy bailout” plan and will do what makes sense: capitalize the banks directly. This is a good move, but I sincerely hope the treasury considers the option of matching private investment for a … Continue reading Success: Paulson Backpedals

This must be the month of government bailouts: Bear Stearns, Fannie & Freddie, and locally, a one million dollar cash infusion from our tax coffers to the STAR commuter train from Lebanon to Nashville. While many would argue that Fannie & Freddie are too big to fail, a commuter train that is losing money may … Continue reading Is Government Bailout Of Nashville STAR A Good Idea?

One of the best headlines in recent memory was the Onion’s, “Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In.” The article lampoons the artificial wealth cycle of US capitalism, but also points to a more important question: what’s the next big thing that is going to pull us out of this hole? And my oh … Continue reading What We Need Is A New Bubble… A Green One