Virtual Fundraising

I am a big fan of movies and I’m always searching for great new films to get excited about.  I have a few friends that have been trying to break into the movie business for some time but most of them are still waiting for their “big break.”  The bottom line is that movies cost a lot of money and the average person that is starting out is broke. I had heard a little bit of buzz about a website called kickstarter.com  This is a website that helps artists/inventors/writers/creators get their projects off the ground.  They describe themselves as being, “The largest funding platform for creative projects in the world.” It is a really cool idea.  The site allows artists to post a trailer or a description of the project that they are trying to accomplish and people can pledge money to help fund the project. 

The coolest part of the process is the reward program.  There is a reward program in place that is based on how much people pledge.  There is no monetary exchange here.  This is a way for people to feel connected to the project.  For example, if someone pledges $1-$10 they might get their name posted on the facebook page of the movie. If someone pledges $10-$25 they will receive a copy of the finished product. If they pledge over $100 they might have a character named after them or a cameo in the film. 

The site posts how many people have funded the project, how much money has been raised, and how much time they have left to fund the project.  Each project is given a deadline for when they need to see the cash or else the project will not happen. 

Although the site features a lot of film projects there are other projects that the site helps succeed as well.  Here is a video clip from one of the founders of kickstarter.com explaining the goals of the site.

http://fora.tv/2011/06/22/Flash_Mobs

He talks about a person that had an idea for an Ipod watch and he was having trouble get it off the ground.  He had gone to Apple and a few other places and could not seem to sell the idea.  He posted his idea on kickstarter and ended up raising enough money to create a batch of his product and sold it to Apple. 

Here is the link to kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/

It is definitely worth checking out.  It is a new way of networking and helping art and culture exist in the world.  Maybe our next Steve Wozniak or Bill Gates will start here??

ERP is Cool?

Prior to our discussions last week about ERP systems I had never heard of the term ERP.  Turns out…I work with an ERP system everyday at my job, we just call it something else.  I guess I was a surprised (and a little embarrassed) that I had never heard this term and it sparked my interest to learn a little bit more about these systems and how companies are using them.  I came across this article in Information Week magazine that was titled ERP’s Cool Again. Here is the link:

http://i.cmpnet.com/infoweek/green/072511/InformationWeek_2011_07_25.pdf

The article talks about how ERP systems are taking on a new face in the business world and closing the gap between IT and executive level decision makers by using mobile apps and social media. They surveyed 314 IT teams about what would most improve IT productivity. The most common response was, “more engagement and support from business leaders and colleagues.”  In other words they were looking for relevance in the business. 

Business leaders are looking for IT projects that give them constant updates on business performance.  In response to this, IT teams are implementing ERP systems that are connected to mobile devices allowing business leaders to view dashboards, reports, and alerts on their smart phones.

The article also talks about how CRM systems are now tying into social media platforms like facebook, twitter, and youtube.  This allows the company to view feedback about the company and communicate with their “friends.” CRM systems are also connecting with financial performance management apps allowing companies to analyze costs and customer profitability. 

So I guess ERP is cool. This new way of accessing information is the future of ERP systems.  My prediction is that all major companies that are currently using some form of an ERP system will be forced to embrace these changes within the next 5 years in order to stay competitive. 

Nowhere to Hide

It is getting harder and harder to stay under the radar these days.  Google just announced that they acquired PittPatt which is a facial recognition technology company.  PittPatt's technology can do various types of facial recognition, including tracking faces in videos and sorting photos according to whose face appears in each photo. Google has already been using some forms of facial recognition technology but the acquisition of PittPatt is said to, “bring the benefits of …research and technology to a wider audience.”

Here is the announcement about Google’s acquisition:

 http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9218615/Google_buys_facial_recognition_company_PittPatt?source=rss_hardware&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+computerworld/s/feed/topic/128+(Computerworld+Emerging+Technologies+News)

I am not alone in feeling a tad…ummm…uncomfortable with this new wave of technology.  Soon it will be possible for strangers to view every photo that or video that you have been posed in or possibly reside in the background of.  Is this an invasion of privacy? I think so. You have no control over what photos are out there with your name on them.  What happens when this technology mistakes you for someone else? Here is an article that shares my fears about this new technology. 

http://geeklyadvice.com/facial_recognition_technology

Here is a video that illustrates PittPatt face recognition over a clip from "The Office." “Only face tracks of cast members with frontal / near-frontal instances are recognized; all other face tracks are annotated in white.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ONCp77GhAk&feature=related

Google+ vs. Facebook

The world of social networking just got a little bit bigger with the introduction of Google+.  Although it is still in the test phases there is a lot of buzz about Google + and what affect it is going to have on the popularity of Facebook.  Google+ is google’s new social networking site that markets itself as being more flexibility for it’s users that Facebook.    It is comprised of several new features such as Circles, Sparks, Hangouts, Mobile, Location, Instant Upload, and Huddle.

The feature that I find the most appealing is “Circles.”  This feature allows you to categorize your friends into different groups so that that you can pick and choose what you are going to share and with whom you are going to share it with.   I like this feature because I do not always want to share the same things with my boss and my best friend. 

Another feature that I like with Google+ is the “Sparks” feature.  This allows users to enter in areas of interest on their page and the search engine will deliver content based on what you like.  Although this may lead to hours of wasted time watching online video clips it is pretty cool. 

It will be interesting to see how Google+ will impact the Facebook following.  Here is an interesting article that talks about the possible outcomes.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/235454/can_facebook_and_google_coexist.html?tk=out

You can take a tour of what google+ is going to offer. Check it out.

http://www.google.com/intl/en-US/+/demo/

Here is another site that gives more detail of what google+ will offer. 

http://www.slashgear.com/slashgear-101-what-is-google-circles-huddle-28161844/

More Hurdles in Project Management

I’m an MSM student with a concentration in Organizational Development.  My goal with this degree is to learn the tools I need to ultimately become a project manager.  In our discussions last week about Project Management it seems as though the best way to learn about Project Management is to look at Projects that fail.  Unfortunately statistics show that there are many more failed projects than those that finish, “successfully”.  So one would think that the more mistakes that we have to learn from, the higher the success rate would be…right? If only it was that easy.

The article below talks about how the Project failure rate is on the rise yet again due to the recession.  The recession is causing a few more hurdles for project managers to overcome.  The article talks about how budget and job cuts are causing projects to fail at a faster rate.  The article also talks about how the recession has, “engendered a risk aversion inside organizations that…has led them to overemphasize compliance and governance--to such an extent that too many checks and balances are slowing down projects.” 

I found it interesting; however, it makes me think twice about my career path.

http://www.cio.com/article/495306/Recession_Causes_Rising_IT_Project_Failure_Rates_?page=2&taxonomyId=3198

Outsourcing- Is there hope?

Our recent discussions about outsourcing and off shoring have left me wondering about the future of the job market and what it will mean in the next 10 years.  Although higher level management benefits from cheaper labor rates and tax breaks overseas, things do not look as good for the average American workers that are losing their jobs everyday to India and China.  I came across article after article describing the dangerous direction that this country is headed.  It makes me wonder, Is there any hope? Does anyone think that this will turn around? Or is India going to be outsourcing their call centers to us in 10 years and we will be forced to take on pseudo names of Sanji and Shikha.  Or will things level out across the board?

I came across this clip from Patrick Dixon that eased my fears a little bit.  He has an interesting take on what will happen with the future of outsourcing.  He believes that wage increases and inflation overseas are going to rise so much that the profit margin of outsourcing will not make sense for a lot of companies.  He says that some (not all) jobs will come back to the US, Europe, and Australia.  He mentions that outsourcing will always exist. But there is hope.  Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZwCDYLClPM

A friend of mine also showed me this funny clip from The Onion.  For those of you who don’t know, The Onion is fake/satirical newspaper and website. They do hilarious made up stories.  Here is a funny exaggeration that they did about outsourcing. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eezArBlYg9o&feature=fvsr

Chasing the Netflix Dragon

My name is Jen and I am a Netflixaholic. There I said it. Don’t judge me. So as you can imagine, Netflix’s announcement that they are going to raise their prices by 60% leaves me and millions of other Netflix addicts feeling heartbroken/betrayed/and pissed.  Netflix roped me in because of their low pricing on such a great product.  So maybe I did take it for granted, so what.  Now that I’m hooked they are pulling the old bait and switch. 

I guess the only “positive” thing that comes from this whole situation is that I am forced to think about how Technology has completely changed our entertainment experience over the past few years.  I won’t even get into how technology has completely changed how movies are made with CGI and special effects…that’s obvious.  I’m talking about how we receive the content has completely transformed.  Do you remember going to the movie store? If you went after 7:00 on a Friday night, forget it…all of the best movies were gone.  Only the empty display cases remain on the shelves with nothing behind them.  So you better walk back over to the A’s and search alphabetically for your second choice. 

In a short period of time Netflix has completely dominated the market with its technology.  Now if we don’t want to pay $12.00 to see a movie in the theater we will “Netflix it”.  Our culture has completely transformed into a “now” society where we cannot wait for anything.  We are impatient and we need everything at our fingertips.  Netflix recognized this opportunity and has taken the lead in the streaming video market.  Content when you want it, where ever you are, and no late fees.  

It is pretty impressive when you think about what Netflix has accomplished.  They have cornered the movie rental market and eliminated almost all of their competition.  Now they are the only game in town and they are going to name their price.  They want to lure their subscribers away from DVD’s and switch everyone to streaming video.  Fortunately they have the muscle to do it. 

Although I am outraged at the thought of forking over an extra $6 a month,  I know that it is not going to matter. When September rolls around and it is time to resign I’m going to chase this dragon along with millions of other Netflixaholics and pony up the cash.  What can I say…I’m hooked.

Here are some interesting  links that came across that talk about the price hike.  These first two articles explain what Netflix is trying to accomplish and reasoning for the price increase.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_18476551?source=most_viewed

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/netflixs-pricing-backlash-follow-the-money-churn-rates/52295?tag=mncol;txt

Here are two more articles talking about the backlash from Netflix subscribers.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20079324-261/netflix-managers-prepared-for-backlash-to-price-hike/t-pc/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20078960-93/dear-netflix-price-hike-ignites-social-media-fire/?tag=mncol;txt