The makings of a mobile strategy

Transcript of keynote delivered at Super Mobile Con
May 14th, 2013 at Calgary, AB

The makings of a mobile strategy

When the folks at Robots and Pencils reached out and asked me to deliver a keynote about our mobile strategy, a couple of things ran through my mind.

New Shaw Exo WiFi Finder App!

This past week we successfuly published a new app for iPhone and iPod Touch to support the Shaw Exo WiFi network. The app, available from download from http://shaw.ca/wifi/app/, allows users to find WiFi zones that Shaw has deployed across Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Winnipeg (and growing).

Is Entertainment On the Go Real?

As I finish up packing for my flight to Calgary tomorrow, I wonder if entertainment is as portable as we all seem to think? Yes, of course I will be bringing iPhone, iPad, and laptop, but the question is; how much do they contribute to my entertainment once there is no connectivity?

Locations Aware Service

One of my moments of truth happened at the Web 2.0 Forum in San Francisco a few years ago. During her keynote speech, Mitchell Baker, Chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation planted an idea that would forever change my perspective on mobile technologies: it is not the device that is mobile, it is the individual. This simple statement was my "there is no spoon" revelation from The Matrix. The realization that there is an unexplored world of possibilities around mobility.

Late Perspective on CES

CES is a couple of weeks over, and the Internet is filled with articles about the best of, worse of, and trends; but it is never too late to put in my fifty cents. While I didn't get to see as much or attend as many conferences as I would have liked, it was still a very exciting time. My biggest take away: connected TVs are the next frontier.

Forever a Game Changer: The Internet Turns Publishers into Bloggers

How times have changed! I remember just a few years ago putting together a website would take sweat and tears, and today absolutely free content management systems allow someone with a bit of skills to setup and launch a site within hours.

There is no point in reviewing content management systems, plenty of blogs out there have done that proficiently, but there is something to be told about the effects empowerment will likely have on the web. As I see it today, we can all be active contributors of news and information, causing a massive dissinformation effect.

Holiday Break

This week I've been taking a break from work (with some interspersed conference calls every now and then) to try and gather myself for all there is to come in the next year. These are exciting times, where companies no longer wonder the value of digital products and simply demand how fast can we get them to market. It is a dream come true for digital product developers only clouded by the stress that speed to market puts in our lives. 


But who are we kidding, we love pressure, and my break is just some time to get out of the things that I don't care for so I can focus on the ones that matter: building. Our roadmap encompasses monthly releases of multiplatform products of the utmost quality, so stay tuned as I post information once available. If you are a Shaw customer, your are in for many treats in 2012.

No Digi Awards

So, we didn't win... but it was still a fun night that gave me a chance to connect with old friends I had not seen for quite a while. At least we now have a clear goal: to develop award winning products.

That was quite the break!

Amounting to half a dozen posts over the last five years is beyond embarrassing. It doesn't matter that I do keep another blog for bed time tales (www.themailthread.com/tales/) or that during this time I completed my masters degree (and wrote a significant number of essays for school) and have been faced with increasingly difficult job challenges. It is unjustifiable, but it is a fact.

Working twelve hours a day to help the late Canwest (now Postmedia) launch their redesigned newspaper sites back in 2008 should have still left me with enough time to squeeze a line or two. I could have shared a lot about the incredible group of developers working on the project, the amazing designers, and the inspiring collaborative process we employed to work in much needed features even after the scope was locked down.

Why Newspapers Are Losing the Internet Battle

It has become a challenge for newspapers to survive in the digital world, and while most of them have embraced the Internet as a new medium to deliver their content, many are lagging when it comes to being ahead of the curve.

The evidence is in the facts: Classifieds used to be a newspapers owned industry, however the top online classifieds companies today are not associated to any newspaper (Craiglist, Kijiji, among many others). Most newspaper maintain their classified section and continue to push it as an extension of their print product, but are so constrained in their thinking because of their dire need to turn a quick coin that can't seem to understand that online business models differ from the conventional one they are so used to.

Geo-fencing is killing the Net

The Internet was supposed to be this extraordinary place, with no boundaries and scarce rules, where information was supposed to flow freely; and users were to be happy about their free access to this precious wealth of information. What happened?

On the one corner stand newspapers and other publications, everyday giving you more content at absolutely no cost. Even the last few advocates of paid subscription models are opening up, realizing that the revenues lie in selling advertising, hence the higher the traffic, the more money they can generate.

Oh My God! The Internet is Overwhelming... Again

I am not the first to say it, but I will say it louder. The Internet is completely overloaded!

There is not one single original idea that doesn't find replicators (multiple replicators may I add), leading to an increased number of repeated offers with no significant improvements from one to another. For some time we had two champions to choose from: either MSN or Yahoo! for web portals, Yahoo! or Google for search engines, Expedia or Travelocity for travel. But today, it is a sea of options that seems to have no end, and apparently, this is just the beginning.

The Personal Computer Has Ceased to Exist

Seriously...

I am baffled at the nascent web applications that are simply creating virtual working spaces, thus enabling users to work seamlessly anywhere they go. Personalization is no longer in the machine you are using (at home, office, or school), but on the Internet, allowing users to carry their persona wherever they go.

Applications such as Netvibes were incredibly impressive; a manifestation of the capabilities of Ajax and how it would transform the Internet experience forever. Yet it took me a while to figure out the purpose of these sites, until just recently, when I came across Schmedley (http://www.schmedley.com/). With a stunning visual interface and incredibly useful and simple widgets, it was almost a replica of my Mac's desktop (with dock, animation effects and all).

The Social Networks Phenomena

Ever since the Internet made its way to the vast masses, it has managed to wow us with its ever evolving technology. Many have been able to turn their ideas into reality (some more successfully than others) making available for the masses an universe of online tools on every imaginable category.

The most recent wave has come in the shape of what has been smartly coined as "Social Networks". Websites that provide a space for people to communicate and interact in new ways via their computers. You all know the names of YouTube, MySpace, Facebook. Sites that offer their members the ability to create and share contents with others, interact via posts and chat tools, publish pictures, videos, even music. It's the social heaven for the newer generations.

YouTube will be the end of conventional Television... NOT!

Okay, I am not saying YouTube.com doesn't offer a great product that has come to stay. I find it amusing like almost everyone else and see its value as a new form of entertainment for some, and a form of expression for others. What I find hard to believe is that this library of non-sense videos will ever be a threat to conventional television. And I extend this belief to all forms of online video as they exist today.

Thinking that quality produced entertainment can be threatened by low-end, one man, non-scripted shows is our typical sensationalist reaction. But in reality, how much more can you watch of a crazy cat staring at a ball?

Kicking Off

I guess the most difficult part of getting a blog started is writing your first few lines. You sit with plenty of ideas and motivation, but your fingers freeze facing the challenge of coming up with something that shows wit and brains.

So, without further ado, let's kick off by making the introductions and talking about motivations and objectives.

I've been involved with the digital advertising world for the past ten years. Right out of school I was involved with the development of a massive online directory that promoted events, and we had built a substantial mailing list with which we had started conducting non-intrusive email marketing. No, I am not trying to sound like a good guy (even though I am); what I have failed to say is that all this we were doing in my home country: Cuba, back in 1997.

Ten years later I now live in Canada and work for one of the largest media companies, managing interactive projects and designing new products for advertisers.

That I think covers the intro. If you want to know more about me I will have some more details posted later on, but I don't want to make this a blog about who I am and what I do...

Lately I've been attending a series of interactive marketing events and have been exposed to the theories of so-called experts about what they think the future of Internet will be. Complex theories about the power being now in the hands of individuals and how control of the Internet is now diluted.

Others have presented the most daunting ideas about user generated contents threatening conventional television and all forms of modern entertainment; and some companies are starting to take these "experts" seriously, taking steps to jump into the wagon before the train leaves the station.

So, that's the reason that brought me here. While I know my words will likely be diluted across the Internet, and particularly hard to find by anyone who may benefit with them; at least I will have unloaded my thoughts and maybe reached one or two other souls that share my views and help me spread the word.

The purpose of my "rants" is to try and bring some common sense to marketers and advertisers alike, and help them see the light at the end of the tunnel as the Internet becomes an ever darker World in their eyes.

Thanks for reading and keep checking for a new rant.