Tuesday, December 11, 2007

I'm Virtually Working

[Note: the following is a feature that I originally wrote for Media Bullseye. If you don't subscribe to this unique e-magazine of the communications field, I strongly suggest you check it out. And while you're at it - you do subscribe to my blog, don't you?]

One of the realities that we face in this increasingly online world is that more of our previously "analog" activities are now becoming digital. From shopping and banking to project management and document retrieval, there are more Web-based applications that make our lives easier to manage from in front of the screen.

Which begs the obvious question: if apps can be Web-based, then why can’t workers?

With so much focus on work-life balance, flex time and family-friendly workplaces, more companies are discovering that non-traditional working environments may benefit their employees and their company. In other words, "flex" might very well apply to place rather than time - and "work" doesn’t necessarily mean a fluorescent-lit cube farm.

I think there’s a unique confluence of events that occurred beginning at the close of 2001 which got us to where we are today. Part technological, part sociological, these situations have led to the same inevitable conclusion: we’ll be seeing many more jobs that do not require physical relocation, and even more that encourage part-time work from home.

September 11, 2001. The business travel market shrank significantly after the terrorist attacks, for a couple of reasons: less free cash flow meant reining in expenses, and travel budgets were an easy target; and Americans were a little hesitant to step back on airplanes after seeing what had happened, preferring rather to stay close to home and hearth. Organizations began looking into more virtual presence applications, such as video conferencing and Web-based presentation software, to substitute face-to-face client and departmental meetings.
The rise of universally available high-speed access. First it was DSL and cable that became mainstream. Now FiOS is quickly following suit and wireless network cards for the real road warriors are about as cheap as a cell phone plan. Any way you look at it, there is ubiquitous high-speed access wherever we go. Good riddance, dial-up!
Web-based software becomes endemic. The ability to share photos, files, and other data online has nearly made boxed software disposable – especially when you consider many of these are free.
"Soft" benefits are being sold by HR. Driven mainly by the FMLA, paternity leave is becoming more of a norm, HR departments have realized that allowing workers the time to participate in their childrens’ activities will make for a happy, more productive workforce. And let’s not forget the growing number of commuters out there on the roads each day. The traffic isn’t getting any lighter. By allowing work to be done off-hours and from home, the enterprise can still thrive while encouraging employees to lead fulfilling and less stressful lives.

So, combine less frequent business travel with online access and software improvement, add to it changing attitudes about when and where we work, and you’ve got the perfect storm for the rise of the virtual employee.

My own company, crayon, is a virtual company. We are scattered around the Northeast and work from home offices, but we use new media technologies to stay in touch and hold meetings – from Skype for our primary phone and IM service, to ooVoo for up to 6 people in a video chat, to Second Life for open houses and large presentations, to Basecamp for project and client management, we don’t need office space. ABC World News Tonight even did a feature story on this.

Now, that’s not to say that we eschew face-to-face meetings. On the contrary, we believe they’re an essential part of how we do business. We check in with each other regularly and have monthly meetings in person. But we know that each one of us has the freedom to work how he or she chooses, and it means that our families are happier, our clients are satisfied and we have the opportunity to build the business of the future. Everyone wins.

I fully expect that more companies will embrace this type of workforce in the near future. In this age of information and conversation, it’s the knowledge workers who will be most sought after - and it’s a seller’s market. Don’t expect them to uproot their families just so they can come to work at a generic-looking office park in a nondescript suburb. A top-notch hire will be able to work wherever he or she wants and will likely choose the company that reflects those values.

The question is: are you virtually prepared?

Labels: crayon, innovation, Media Bullseye, Second Life

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:50 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Monday, August 27, 2007

ABC News Waxes Futuristic

Last month, crayon was visited by a crew from ABC News, as they were filming a piece for a series called "The Workplace of the Future." As crayon has offices in Second Life, we were a natural choice to showcase what it's like to be part of a virtual company.

Well, earlier this evening, World News Tonight with Charles Gibson aired a spot that featured crayon in addition to IBM and accenture. Not bad company to keep, eh? My colleagues got some nice coverage, including C.C., Joseph and Greg (voice only). You can watch the video by clicking the player in the upper-right corner of your screen.

The ultimate irony? You're forced to watch a 30-second spot as part of the pre-roll. Here's the YouTube version without the ads:

And in the meantime, you're welcome to join us on Crayonville Island every Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. EST for Coffee with crayon.

Labels: big media, crayon, Greg Verdino, Joseph Jaffe, New Media, news, Second Life, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:38 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Coffee with Crayon

Hey - how'd you like to spend some quality time with some crayonistas? Every Thursday from 9:00 -9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, crayon hosts Coffee with crayon at our offices in Second Life. It's your opportunity to join the conversation and pick our brains about whatever you want. It's open to the public, so pop in and check us out.

What typically goes on during Coffee with crayon? It's a wildcard! Usually we get some of the brightest minds from around the social media space who pop in and spark some great conversations with us. You can usually count on:

Discussion around some of the latest goings-on in the new media field, from successes to controversies
Comparing notes on some of the latest tools, applications and sites in the new media field
Features in Second Life

This week, we'll be welcoming our newest members to the group. Why don't you plan on stopping by and seeing what it's all about? After all, new media is all about trying new things.

And if you ever wondered what life at the real crayon office is like, check out this video, by DraftFCB:

Labels: crayon, New Media, Second Life

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:07 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

My New Social Media Job

We interrupt this marketing blog to bring you a purely personal post. Well, that's not entirely true. It's a personal post with a marketing twist.

If you stop by my desk, you'll find an assortment of fountain pens, usually kept on a pen holder or in a mahogany and glass display case that my colleagues have deemed the "pen humidor." I prefer to use fountain pens because they're distinctive, elegant and they require me to really focus on what I'm writing.

For about 2 1/2 years I've been at an award-winning traditional agency - in some ways a fountain pen of the marketing world. Staffed with incredibly intelligent and talented people with distinctive personalities, the agency has given me an opportunity to help clients address complex problems for sophisticated audiences.

But as you know, I've been writing about marketing in the social media space for the last year or so and have craved social media marketing projects at every turn. As my agency is small and focused on B2B clients, the opportunities have been limited. So I've managed to educate myself on the subject and to interact with some intelligent, creative and well-connected new media people, both online and in person.

My initial interest in the space was instigated from a keynote presentation at the 2006 Boston Ad Club symposium where I heard Joseph Jaffe speak. From then on, I had the bug, leading to an inexorable flow of RSS feeds and podcasts as well as the formation of my blog (I have still kept my other blog as a social media laboratory of sorts).

So when Jaffe & Co. launched crayon last October, I watched the whole thing unfold. The initial announcements, the various podcast plugs, the launch in Second Life - I was excited that new marketing was being given a boost. I even closed that October 20, 2006 blog post with "Talk about a dream job!"

Fast forward to this March, when I heard Joseph speak at the Ad Club Symposium again, this time with C.C. Chapman in tow. I was much more prepared - so much so that C.C. and I were exchanging Twitter messages across the floor of the event. Joseph, C.C. and I connected briefly at the event, followed up with a wave of emails, tweets and phone calls, and finally came to a mutual decision:

On June 4th, I officially join the crayon team.

Dream job, indeed. I'll be working with crayon clients to help them understand new media opportunities and, with the help of the crayon creative & strategic team, to help build new marketing campaigns and social media outreach programs for some major brands.

As you can imagine, I'm incredibly excited about the opportunity - not only do I get to do what I love on a daily basis, but I get to do so with some people I really admire and respect. So now, rather than being filled with lustrous fountain pens, my pen humidor is going to look something like this:

There will be a follow up post on "how social media helped me land my new job," in which I'll detail the steps that I took - some of which led to very interesting conversations, others which didn't pan out - all of which were directly linked to being part of the larger new marketing social network. It may even be something of a case study for putting social media to work as a tool in your career development.

Over the next two weeks, I'll be spending time with my family (in particular prepping for Drew's 1st birthday), accomplishing some tasks around the house, getting my home office organized and continuing to delve into this amazingly fertile and fluid world of new media.

Happy coloring!

Labels: blogs, crayon, innovation, New Media, news, Podcasting, Second Life, social media, Twitter

Posted by Scott Monty at 10:03 AM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Monday, May 21, 2007

The Pepsi Challenge

A couple of weeks ago, the new marketing company crayon announced a revolutionary campaign undertaken on behalf of their client, The Coca-Cola Company. It's called Virtual Thirst and it invites users to participate in the Coke experience by generating ideas for creating their own vending machines that can do absolutely anything. The winner will see their creation become reality in Second Life.

The folks at crayon have developed a number of social media components to the campaign, including concerts and gatherings at the Coca-Cola Pavillion in Second Life, YouTube videos inviting response/entry videos, the landing page and a panel of celebrity judges to choose the winner. Undoubtedly a creative campaign that is designed to spark user-generated ideas to make the Coke brand come to life. More information is available at VirtualThirst.com.

But you have to wonder when Coke's #1 competitor Pepsi launches a campaign the same month that features...ads on bus shelters? Yes, bus shelters.

It seems a step down from the uber-cool Second Life approach from crayon. Or so I thought when I read the headline. But as I got a little further into the MediaPost piece, my interest grew.

Evidently, the ads feature a technology called LumiGraphics that

lights up the ad and the shelter. This is the first time LumiGraphics have been used in the United States; the ads are currently being run in Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver, New York and Washington.

But what makes this illuminated outdoor ad stand apart from others is that it also brings Bluetooth technology to the mix. Passersby who are Bluetooth-enabled can download content such as a rap by New York Yankee Johnny Damon (!) or hip-hop artists, if you're a rap purist. The creative also encourages viewers to go to PepsiSmash.com for more music - a site that is driven by Yahoo! Music.

Not bad, not bad. I never was a Pepsi fan myself, except for Mountain Dew. Will this change my mind? Not likely. Will it grab some attention? Definitely. But to me, it doesn't invite the same level of participation - of conversation - that the Coke campaign does. This still smacks of one-way marketing. Which is fine, but I hope for their sake that Pepsi has a little more bubbling.

I say let the Yankees associate themselves with Pepsi. I'll stick with the Boston Red Sox and Coca-Cola, thank you very much.

Labels: brand, crayon, innovation, New Media, outdoor, Second Life, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 5:23 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Try It, You'll Like It

What would David Ogilvy do? That's the question I've been asking myself, and I think I've got the answer.

First, a little background. One of the social media colleagues I've had a chance to meet over the last couple of weeks was Greg Verdino. His recent blog post mentions his attendance at Virtual Worlds 2007 conference, in which he noted how few marketers and agency executives were present. So profound was it that David Armano made it his Thought of the Day.

Far from surprising Greg (or me), it reinforced what we both discussed when we met: the majority of marketers are trying to figure out ways t harness the field of new marketing strategies (blogging / podcasting / Second Life / social network) without the benefit of actually using the technologies. When did this - giving advice on something you don't understand - become the hallmark of a successful marketer?

Think about it for a minute: would an agency exec work on a television commercial without ever having seen one? Would any good creative director design a print ad without looking through a magazine to see what the surrounding material is like? Not on your life. Yet they throw the social media terms around as if they just represent another channel.

If you've ever read the seminal book Ogilvy on Advertising, you'll know that David Ogilvy made two very important points in the book - points that defined his career:

Research is crucial. Understand the client, understand their customer and what motivates them. This was so important that he named himself Research Director at his agency.
Live the brand. It didn't matter if the client was Rolls Royce, Schweppes or Sears, Ogilvy always bought his clients' products and experienced them just as any customer would, which made him much more effective when he wrote about them.

So, if David Ogilvy were to counsel a client on the social media space today, would he have a blog? A MySpace profile? Would he listen to podcasts? You bet your life he would.

While social media is considered as just another facet to an integrated marketing program (and rightfully so), it's a more complex than most agency execs and marketers think. This is a conversation medium, one that requires understanding and finessing. You wouldn't show up at a sophisticated cocktail party dressed poorly and proceed to interrupt a conversation, grab a handful of hors d'oeuvres and smash your face down in the punch bowl, would you?

Well that's the equivalent of a marketer inexperienced in the field of new marketing / social media showing up to Second Life, starting a blog, etc. without having taken the time to participate in and understand the space.

Labels: Advertising, blogs, David Armano, Marketing, New Media, Podcasting, Second Life, social media