Master of 500 Hats

Bill Gates is LinkedIn, and Kay Luo works miracles.

  Bill Gates is LinkedIn 
  Originally uploaded by davemc500hats

damn.  that's impressive.

Bill Gates wasn't off Facebook for more than 2 weeks before Kay got him on LinkedIn.

Other People's Platforms: You Down With OPP? Yeah, U Know Me.

i really wanted to go with the above headline on my O'Reilly Radar post about social networks & platforms... but word on the street is that Naughty By Nature might be a little too old school for that crowd.  oh well.

for those in the know, there's a lot of action happening on Other People's Platforms these days:

you down with OPP?  hellz yeah.

hope all you folks will get down with your dirty selves and me at Graphing Social Patterns West in San Diego next week :)

 

Securitizing Happiness (v0.9): Solving the World's Problems by Creating Trillion-Dollar Asset Classes for Individuals, Small Business & Natural Resources

For the first time i tried to put together my earlier thoughts on Securitizing Happiness, and gave a brief presentation at O'Reilly Collective Intelligence Foo Camp to people a lot smarter than me.  Here is the rough first cut...

Securitizing Happiness: Solving the World's Problems by Making Trillion-Dollar Markets for Individuals, Small Business, & Natural Resources

view presentation (tags: finance capital.markets social.entrepreneurship economics)

hopefully i didn't end up looking like too much of an idiot, but regardless it was great for me to finally get this out in the public domain and get some reactions.  appreciate any feedback or thoughts on the concepts & proposed solutions, and particularly any good hacks you think i've overlooked...

Web 2.0 Expo Launchpad: Enter your Startup! (free if yer hot-n-sexy)

For startups who are ready to roll (out) and want a nice big LaunchPad to take off from, enter your company NOW to debut at Web 2.0 Expo SF!

The Web 2.0 Expo Launchpad will feature ~6 cool new startups, selected based on how hot & sexy your company seems to a judging panel of VCs. 

Note: selection is purely on merit; there is no cost to participate.

so what are you waiting for?  enter here

Lil'grams: it's Twitter for Toddlers! (or their parents, anyway ;)

  Lil'grams: Twitter for Toddlers! 
  Originally uploaded by davemc500hats

yep, you guessed it:

Lil'grams is twitter/tumblr for baby-obsessed parents.

which, btw, is *all* of them.  and by them, i mean us.

great idea, greg :)

(staying in town, not going to vegas this week)

[sorry not news, just a status update...]

due to sick me / wife / kids -- and actually, more because our nanny is sick too -- i'm not headed to vegas for TRAFFIC WEST conference this afternoon.  kind of a bummer, as i really wanted to learn more about the domaining space.  however i still have a lot of work getting ready for GSP West & Web 2.0 Expo.  might stop in to check out GDC since i'll now be in town.

anyway, hope all of you feeling as crappy as i've been lately will be back on your feet soon :)

Zynga & Marc Pincus -- Geeks & Games Party Monday @ Jillian's

  Geeks & Games @ Jillian's 
 

my friend Eric Marcoullier asked me to post this par-tay announcement... unfortunately i'll be out of town monday night in vegas, but sounds like a blast:

Marc Pincus & Zynga are hosting a party for GDC geeks & social games / casual games developers at Jillian's (Sony Metreon).  Go there & get your game on!

Marc & Zynga will be speaking on a panel along with Shervin / SGN + Mike Lazerow / Buddy Media, moderated by Jeremiy Liew / Lightspeed, at my Graphing Social Patterns conference in San Diego March 3-4.  Hope you can join us :)

Awww... Google Docs Hearts Me :)

  Awww... Google Docs Hearts Me :) 
  Originally uploaded by davemc500hats

Google Docs goes Pink for Valentine's Day, swaps Hearts for Stars...

gee willikers :)

Kara Swisher is KING OF THE WORLD! (for a day)

I had a wonderful time chatting with Kara Swisher about All Things Digital up in SF earlier this week.  while sipping a delightful chai (me) & java (her) in The Castro, i decided to turn the tables and put *Kara* in front of the camera for once.  the following video is my first tyro attempt at video journalism. 

since Kara so often writes on what all the Internet powerhouse companies should be doing, i asked her what she would do if she were CEO for a day at the following companies:  Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, eBay, Facebook, MySpace, & AOL.

(apologies to Mr. Bezos: we forgot to include Amazon, altho they're executing pretty darn well lately so not much kibitzing needed).

briefly, the 100-word translation of Kara's tips for running Teh Internets:

* Google: full speed ahead to world domination.  sentient machines, etc.
* Microsoft: don't take shit from Yahoo board.  buy that mofo NOW Steve!
* Yahoo: STFUp & get bought already.  $31 low? remember: YOU F'd it up.
* eBay: Open up. Get off marketplace. unt SCHTOP! being Fascist mit Sellerz!
* Facebook: Figure out how to Moneti$e. still, $300M buys you some time.
* MySpace: Same challenges as FB, only bigger.  Grow up & get a real job!
* AOL:  umm.... help! i've fallen and i can't get up!  (geez, who the f knows?)

Wrapping up, i gave Kara a softball plug for The D Conference.  which she doesn't really need, cuz they're already way sold out, with a waiting list of hundreds.  [note to self: remember to ask Kara for more tips on selling out internet conferences... re: Graphing Social Patterns]

please try to ignore my Ed McMahon-like guffaws... i need to shut the F up & let the star do the talking.

Graphing Social Patterns West -- Social Networking RockStars, Panels, AppNite Demo Contest & Discounts

So i've been busting my ass these past few months putting together the O'Reilly Graphing Social Patterns West conference March 3-4 in San Diego.  I'm happy to say the program is locked & loaded, and our lineup of speakers & topics is friggin' awesome (yeah i know, i'm biased).

We have business & tech keynotes from social platform juggernauts Facebook, MySpace, Google, & Yahoo.  We have presentations & panel discussions from an all-star cast of alpha geeks & entrepreneurs who comprise the best & brightest of the social networking universe. 

Charlene Li & Jeremiah Owyang from Forrester Research will rock your sox on The Future of Social Networks and Widget Strategies & Social Platforms.  We also have socially-savvy VCs like Jim Scheinman from Charles River Ventures, Jeremy Liew from LightSpeed, Jeff Clavier from SoftTechVC, and Lee Lorenzen from Altura Ventures.

Companies speaking include RockYou, Slide, SocialMedia, ClearSpring, SixApart, Plaxo, Widgetbox, Zynga, VideoEgg, Lookery, among many many others.  Discussion topics include Viral Marketing & Widgets, Marketing on Facebook, Social Games, Engineering the Viral Loop, Driving User Engagement, Privacy Management & Data Portability, Advertising & Monetization.

Geek Budget?  Save Some Cash, Yo.

Wait a sec... some of you are starving independent geeks on a budget, right?  You're working hard to get your amazing new app / widget / startup off the ground without spending an arm and a leg.  We got you covered -- here's a discount code for 30% off (gspw08spbl) you can use to register & save some cash.

Want to Save More? Enter the AppNite Live Demo Contest 

Finally, if you're a sharp app developer and really need a break, enter your Facebook or OpenSocial app in our AppNite Live Demo Contest, and you'll get a 50% off discount code (click thru to get the code... even if you don't make the cut, you still get the discount, yo).  Ten apps will be selected for lightning demos at the AppNite party, and two winners will receive a brand-spankin' new MacBook Air as their prize.  yowza!

Alright, that's all the pimping for now.  i'm out.  See you in San Diego!