While in a jet-lagged slumber I was catching up on Jeff Jarvis’ blog and stumbled onto Spot – a way of driving publicly supported news… This is a very cool idea…

This might be an abhorrent pollution of the idea but I wonder what would happen if they opened this up to PR professionals to seek writers for their stories and ideas… Kind of a platform for freelance writing and brokering of ideas.

As with anything, there would be all kinds of issues. Like how to protect the idea from competitors eyes. This could be done easily though.

There is also potential for spot to be used as a way for PR people to collaborate with each other and journos on pitches.

Richard Edelman has some great thoughts on the four attributes of public engagement. Well worth a read if you are in the communications field.

• First, it is democratic and decentralized. Like Dell’s IdeaStorm…
• Second, it aims to inform the conversation. (Which is different than engineering stories).
• Third, it calls for engagement with influencers of all stripes.
• Fourth, it suggests that reputation is built on policy and communication. See what we are doing with Regeneration.org.

Well worth a read…

Following Larry Ellison’s jab against Cloud Computing, Tim posts a good counter-punch…

So when Larry Ellison says that cloud computing and open source won’t produce many hugely profitable companies, he’s right, but only if you look at the pure software layer. This is a lot like saying that the PC wouldn’t produce many hugely profitable companies, and looking only at hardware vendors! First Microsoft, and now Google give the lie to Ellison’s analysis. The big winners are those who best grasp the rules of the new platform.

So here’s the real trick: cloud computing is real. Everything is moving into the cloud, in whole or in part. The utility layer of cloud computing will be just that, a utility, without outsized profits.

But the cloud platform, like the software platform before it, has new rules for competitive advantage. And chief among those advantages are those that we’ve identified as “Web 2.0”, the design of systems that harness network effects to get better the more people use them.

Nick argues there are inherent flaws to what Tim has to say… both are worth a read.

For all you Kiwis, take a look at NZ Onscreen. Some great video including this one of Hone Tuwhare… Will be great when they get more content up.

This is very cool… mainly because the team has been working so hard on social media. Thanks to all the team for their hard work and passion for the conversation.

1. Dell, Inc., the 2008 SNCR Brand of the Year. The Brand of the Year is awarded to the organization that made the most significant advances in utilizing new communications and social media tools, technologies and practices.