Paul Walsh, the Irish Opportunist

The most interesting conversation to come out of SXSW for me was Sarah Lacy’s unfortunate interview with Mark Zuckerberg. Paul Carr (by the way, welcome to Twitter Paul!) captured the moment succinctly

Sarah Lacy (SL): “Thank you - thank you all so much. Now let’s hear it for this guy - Mark Zuckerberg everyone! So, I wanna start by asking - as I did in my book - why do you think Facebook… which I use like all the time - is so great?”

Mark Zuckerberg (MZ): “Well…”

SL: “What I mean is - what is it about Facebook that has attracted not just me but millions of other people like me to sign up?”

MZ: “Terrorism.”

SL: “I totally agree. Can you say more?”

MZ: “Sure…”

SL: “Can you believe this guy? Wow - I mean his answers are so short - seriously I think he’s the biggest loser I’ve ever interviewed. Hey Mark, can I tell the story about the first time I allowed you to be interviewed?”

MZ: “Sure… I guess.”

SL: “Ok, so, like, I’m interviewing Mark - and we’ve been talking for like twenty hours and Mark was like ‘I need to pee’ and I was like ‘that’s so interesting and sexy’, tell me more and he’s like ‘no I really need to pee’ and I’m like talking about my book and like the next thing I know he’s peed all over the floor and it’s like so cute and hilarious.”

MZ: “Thanks for sharing that.”

(Audience break into spontaneous standing ovation, in awe at Zuckerberg’s razor sharp retort. Fat guy at the front screams and faints. Twitter crashes.)

SL: “Ok, so getting back to Facebook, I wanna ask you about privacy and Facebook Beacon.”

MZ: “Ok, well, let me say that Beacon isn’t something we’re really focussed on as a company right now - I mean it’s like not something I’ve even really heard of. What people don’t understand is that it was developed by our platform team and not our advertising team - so really it’s not advertising at all. I mean, in the Lebanon, kids are actually using it to interact with Coca Cola which - and this is unbelievable - makes them realise what they’re missing by not being in America and that’s why there will never be another nine eleven. But we’re not the only company delivering world peace through invasive advertising, we’re just one of the people in the space. We want to focus on building the platform for world peace and let others build on that.”

SL: “Ok, stop talking now. Jeez! It seems to me anyway, that Beacon is not really the issue. In fact, I shouldn’t have even mentioned it. The big issue is the news feed, what can you say about that?”

MZ: “Well, it’s just something we’re not really focussed on having to explain right now.”

SL: “Ok, that’s fine. Now - last night you told me you were gay and like to fuck squirrels - can I tell that story?”

MZ: “Er…”

SL: “Ok, well, I guess I should have let you make that announcement, gosh darn I’m so ditzy (giggles). So what’s it like to be rich and to have journalists, like, really want to sleep with you?”

MZ: “It’s just not something I’m focussed on right now.”

SL: “How about if I do this?”

(Lacey begins to fellate Zuckerberg but, remarkably, is able to keep talking….)

SL: “Well, sure, that makes it so much easier.”

(Three rows of fat guys at the front of the room orgasm as one at the incredible comedic timing of Mark ‘Bill Hicks’ Zuckerberg as Lacey switches position for a reach around.)

SL: “Ok, well, that’s all we have time for - if you want to know more about how awesome - but dorky - this rich guy is, I guess you’ll all have to read my book. It also has the story about how I famously poured water into Serge Brin’s laptop on my show at Yahoo.com. That was sooo funny. And when I hyped Kevin Rose on the front cover of Business Week and then sold a book to Penguin on the back of it about overhyped web 2.0 companies. Don’t worry, Mark, I’ll give you a discount. And I’ll even throw in a copy for your girlfriend. What’s her name?”

MZ: “Uh…”

SL: “Ok, great! Well thank you very much Mark - it’s been a really insightful conversation on one point five billion levels. And, to the audience, I just wanna say thank you both for staying.”

Session ends.

Paul’s original post from which I stole all of his content can be found here. Please subscribe to his blog. He’s hilarious!

As a result of the poor interview, Mark called for a second interview which Jemima Kiss articulates very well.

To his credit. Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged that a lot of people were frustrated by the wasted opportunity of yesterday’s keynote interview with Sarah Lacy. He did the interview on the condition that she was the interviewer, so whose to blame there?

In the rather more tropical surroundings of a safari-themed bar, Zuckerberg announces that he thought he’d drop by “because yesterday’s keynote just wasn’t enough fun”. That media training has really been paying off.

“One of the big pieces of feedback from yesterday was that people didn’t get a chance to ask enough questions. People were more interesting in product development and technical questions - I’m really interested in those issues like scalability but we thought we’d open up for another 20-30 minutes today.”

So in the midst of the developer garage, what did his home crowd really want to know?

Data portability is a big issue. Zuckerberg said that he wouldn’t necessarily commit to signing up to the same open standards as the other big social networks. “Beacon is a first iteration of that approach to help people share information. We are philosophically aligned with this openness and efficiency in the community but, at the same time, we don’t know what other people are doing and whether our policties are aligned.”

Robert Scoble got kicked off the site (albeit for just one day) because he appeared to be scraping data, rather than ’sharing it’.

Balancing the advantges of data portability with people’s privacy concerns is tricky: “We think sharing information is good, which is why we started this whole platform thing. But these are some of the questions that need to be worked out.”

Music: Is music a focus for the site? Not especially. The site didn’t predict how causal games like Scrabulous would take off (Zuckerberg plays it with this grandparents, aw). The great thing about having a platform is we don’t need to be editorial.

“We don’t need to say what will be the right applications because the market will sort that out for us, and the people that build the great products and applicatiosns will be able to build the great companies.”

It’s a very clever business model, because it lets the users determine the trends and leaves all the R&D to external companies. Nice.

Spam: Facebook will be cutting down on application spam, as he said yesterday: applications will be encouraged to focus on the level of proper engagement they have with their users rather than the number of installs, and the more popular apps will be able to send more invites.

China: He also said that he doesn’t look at time spent on the site as an important metric: Zuckerberg thinks that, like Google, the site should make communication more efficient and help people do what they need to do.

Facebook is looking at the issues of moving the business into China, said a very confident and relaxed Zuckerberg. He’s very open about it forom the start: “Making sure that people’s private information is private is a really important thing for us to do,” he said, explaining that there are only really two options in China; either have the government censor your site and impair the performance of traffic to it inside the country if it doesn’t like you, or have servers inside the country which will be shut down if you don’t follow their policies.

“There are ways to position these things make decisions and set them up to create minimal exposure,” he said. Now that China is on the verge of overtaking the US as the world’s biggest internet market, this strategy is increasingly important.

And has it been a strain for you, Mark, being under such scrutiny because of the success of Facebook? He’s now the world’s youngest billionaire, according to Forbes.

“That’s an interesting topic for a develop garage! I have a small group of really good friends and going through this whole experience of building the company has often been a strain but has helped build interesting friendships.”

Jemima’s original post from which I mercilessly stole her content can be found here. Jemima is also one of the few bloggers that I’m subscribed to, so make sure you’re tuned in. She has her finger well placed on the UK digital pulse.

I’m not sure I like either of Mark’s two options to expand into China. I don’t like the idea of filtering content on behalf of the government, full stop. But what’s the alternative?

Also, check out Rebecca Caroe‘s post on the BIMA blog about panel put together to discuss online advertising for newbies.

I’m taking part on a panel tonight to discuss (debate I hope) where is Web technology now, what enabling technologies are happening, where will that drive innovation, what skills will people need and how will this translate in to job demand. The debate will be the opening of the IWTC Conference, held at the Cineworld Cinema in Dublin.

I’m a great lover of new technology and debating how it can enable a more accessible Web to more people around the world, irrespective of what device they use. However, I also think we need to look at getting the basics right. One such basic on my agenda for the new Industry Association I’m setting up in Ireland will be broadband. It’s a joke in Ireland and I intend to solicit feedback on my opinion tonight. I’ll save my new technology chant for the same conference on Friday.

On the subject of the basics

Damien Mulley, one of Ireland’s finest bloggers (and Technology Journalist of the Year 2007) has been campaigning for better broadband in Ireland for some time now. I’m hoping I can leverage the fantastic work he continues to do, whilst getting his ongoing assistance and advice to enable a better digital ecosystem in Ireland. Only then can Ireland play a major role on the digital stage.

As a side note, it amazes me that Damien was diagnosed with MS recently and still continues to work like a horse. I’m sure he’s likely to shed a tear behind closed doors (who wouldn’t) but he should be held up as a fine example to anyone unfortunate enough to have been diagnosed with an incurable disease. I know, to a much lesser extent, how Damien must be feeling as my sister was diagnosed with the damn thing about 10 years ago.

Anyway, I hope you can make it along to the event tonight, followed by the launch party. Let me know if you’d like to come as I’ve got some guest passes. If you don’t get a response from me just email barry@irishdev.com and come along anyway - I’m sure you’ll get in (oops, I’m sure I’ll get my wrists slapped).

Can you help?

I’ll post the date for my next meeting to discuss the new Association. Please let me know if there are specific dates in March that I should stay away from.

I’m looking for some sponsors, so please get in touch if you’d like to support a new Industry Association in which your own interests will be looked after too.

Blacknight and Microsoft were very kind and sponsored my kick off dinner meeting. I still have enough in the fund to setup the legal entity and perhaps get a basic Web site done, but that’s about it.

Next week is a busy one for networkers in Dublin. I’ll be in Ireland from Tuesday through to Sunday.

Tuesday 26th

19:00 Web Technology Conference starts. I’ve been asked to take part on a panel but it has yet to be confirmed.

Wednesday 27th

Ireland’s first Girl Geek dinner. I’ve been to one as Sarah Blow’s (original founder) guest and they’re good fun. I wish the guys (sorry, couldn’t resist) all the best and I’ll happily await the arrival of my guest invitation

The girl geek dinner is an evening for women in technology to get together, enjoy some dinner and meet some new faces. It’s a way to encourage your fellow women colleagues to join the community, offer their expertise and help grow the network of role models and leaders here in Ireland.

Check out Martha’s Rotter’s blog for more detail.

Thursday 28th

Ireland’s first ever User Group pub quiz. Eh, anyone fancy dinner?

Friday 29th

I’m giving a talk (Track 3) at the Irish Web Technology Conference. It has been organised by IrishDev.com and the user groups MTUG.ie, Ruby Ireland, DubJug.org, Python Ireland and PHP.ie. Sounds like a bunch of techies, but there are marketing related tracks at what’s going to be a rather big conference. I think they’re expecting upwards of 450 delegates.

I believe there’s an after party in the evening.

About my talk

Turn the Web brilliant, gleaming and stain free with POWDER (Content Labels). With my can of beans (no really) I will do a joint presentation on how Content Labels are the next step in reclaiming the Web from scammners, phishers and malicious people who do their best to ruin your day.

Content Label technology and the Semantic Web will restart the conversation between Web site owners and surfers so that everyone can make an informed decision about what they want to see online before they take that leap of faith and click on that unknown link. Find the information you want faster, feel more secure buying products online and make sure your kids never wander into the darker parts of the Web.

Saturday 30th 1st

Irish Blog Awards.

Created and managed by Damien Mulley. I’m looking forward to this.

So, if you’re around Dublin and fancy hooking up for dinner let me know and I’ll host a tech dinner.

Every month, Robert Loch and I host an event called Top Cats. The goal of the event is to forge stronger ties and greater collaboration between the internet start up, mobile, interactive marketing, TV and advertising communities.

There are no formalities apart from my introduction to the evening and we don’t have speakers. It’s an informal gathering of likeminded people, many of whom end up collaborating on very interesting projects.

Who qualifies to be a Top Cat

• Established Agencies = Founder/CEO/Chair
• Technology Providers & Brands (big companies such as Microsoft and the BBC) = Director/Head or other senior decision maker
• Startups = Founder/CEO/Chair + secured VC funding or have a seriously good track record
• Other = Publishers, Editors, Authors, TV Personalities, Establish Journalists, you get the picture.

I’m going to have a chit chat with a few people tonight and stream it live via my mobile. Keep an eye on my Qik account and feel free to comment and ask questions in the live chat room. It might be better to subscribe to my Twitter feed so you get a text message each time I stream live.

So, another Top Cats event is upon us. Check out the names of those who have said they can make it this month.

Who’s coming tonight

• Alex Hoye, Chair, Faction/Buildersite
• Alexis d’Amecourt, 19 Entertainment
• Andrew Shorten, EMEA Platform Evangelist, Adobe
• Andy Co Founder, Agency Mobile
• Andy Finney, Founder, ATSF
• Andy MacLaren, Co-founder, Agency Mobile
• Angela Kirkham, Publishing Manager, Online Marketing, O2
• Armando Ruffi, Co-founder, Zubka
• Ben Johnson, Principal, Both Vitruvian Partners
• Brian Hoadley, Managing Director , phunQube
• Caspar Craven, Co-founder, Trovus
• Catherine Toole, MD, Sticky Content
• Cathy Grimes, Marketing Manager Personal Solutions, Equifax
• Charles Astwood, Founder, London Eating
• Chris Wood, CEO, Top Table
• Craig Hill, Founder / Chairman, Digital Outlook
• Dan Morris, Managing Partner, Splendid
• Daniel Appelquist, Senior Technology Strategist, Vodafone Group
• David Hart, Director, Codegent Ltd
• David King, Director, APCO Online
• Dennis Greene, Head of E-business, Royal Mail
• Dr Anxo Cereijo Roibás, User Experience Research manager, Vodafone
• Edward Charvet, Co-founder, Trovus
• Elizabeth Varley, Editorial Director, Online Content UK
• Farzad Jamal, Group Internet Controller, Northern Shell
• Felix Velarde, Founder, Underwired
• Hamish Gordon,
• Irfon Watkins, CEO, Coull
• James Booth, Co-founder, Rockabox Media
• James Pimentel-Pinto, Managing Director, Agency Mobile
• Jasmine Birtles Founder/MD, Moneymagpie.com
• Jemima Kiss, New media reporter, Media Guardian
• Josephine Fraser, Social/Educational Technologist
• Julia Eilon, AMF Ventures
• Justin Bradley, Head of Digital Television, Sixth Sense UK
• Justin Champney, Head of Brand Innovation EMEA, McCann Worldgroup
• Justin Cooke, Managing Director , Fortune Cookie
• Mairi Clark, Editor , Revolution Magazine
• Mark Fallons, Head of interactive, McCann
• Mark McDermott, Director, Codegent Ltd
• Martin Lowde, 19 Entertainment
• Mike Butcher, Editor, TechCrunch
• Mike Risman, Managing Partner, Both Vitruvian Partners
• Nick Halstead, Founder, Fav.or.it
• Omaid Hizwazi, Co-founder, Crayon
• Paul Canty, Founder, Preloaded
• Paul Duncanson, Managing Director, Creativebrief
• Peter Ogden, Producer, ITV
• Richard Daish, Head of Mobile Services, Chelsea FC
• Richard Titus, Acting Head of UX&D, BBC FM&T
• Rob Corradi, Founder, Preloaded
• Rob Walk, Managing partner, NovaRising
• Robert Killick, MD, cScape
• Robin Charney, Sr. Marketing Manager - Web Platform Solutions, Adobe
• Robin Howard, Client Services Director, BT
• Satish Jayakumar, Co-founder, AdJug
• Scott Gallacher, Director of Online & Partner Marketing, BskyB
• Simon Grice, Founder, ideas.org
• Stephanie Bouchet, Marketing Director, Joost
• Theodore Emiantor, Managing Director, Westminster Accountancy
• Tim O’Neill, Founder / MD, Reactive
• Tom Nixon, Founder, Nixon Mcinnes
• Tom Sacchi, Founder / Director, Unit9
• Tony Cocks, Microsoft
• Will Jeffery, Managing director, Maverick Media
• Will McInnes, MD, Nixon McInnes

Hosts

• Robert Loch, Founder, Internet People & Founder, That’s Useful
• Paul Walsh, Chair, BIMA & Founder, Segala

Thanks to Adobe for their sponsorship this month.

Keep your password in a safe place

Found this via Stewart Curry on Twitter. Thanks for the laugh Eoghan but please can you improve the ‘contrast’ in your next photo as it might not be accessible to everyone

Why is it that my trips abroad always end up as a story telling exercise?

For those who have sons & those who are happy that they don’t….

And you also find out interesting things when you have sons, like:

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 200 m2 house to a depth of 10 cm.
2. If you spray hair spray on dust balls and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3. A 3-year old Boy’s voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 20 Kg boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 6m x 6m room.
5. You should not throw cricket balls up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a cricket ball a long way.
6. The glass in windows (even double-glazed) doesn’t stop a cricket ball hit by a ceiling fan.
7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words ‘uh oh’, it’s already too late.
8. Brake fluid mixed with bleach makes smoke, and lots of it.
9. A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies,
10. Certain Lego’s will pass through the digestive tract of a 4- year old Boy.
11. Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12. Super glue is forever.
13. No matter how many jelly crystals you put in a swimming pool you still can’t walk on water.
14. Pool filters do not like jelly crystals.
15. VCR’s do not eject ‘BL&T’ sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17. Marbles in petrol tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18. You probably DO NOT want to know what that smell is.
19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20. The fire department in Brisbane, Qld, has a 5-minute response time.
21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
22. It will, however, make cats dizzy.
23. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.
80% of Men who read this will try mixing the bleach and brake fluid

How close to the edge should I go with my humour?

I was going to leave a comment on Bernie Goldbach’s blog post entitled Silent LinkedIn Generation but thought better of it, mainly because it’s a post I’ve been meaning to write anyway. I started to enjoy reading the post until I saw a link to a post that I had written last year. Linking to my post in confinement would have been ok.

However, it followed this assumption from Bernie

Their dismissive approach papers over their youth. Because most of the social networking gurus strutting their stuff did not use e-mail before 1990.

That’s a wild assumption and one I didn’t appreciate. Before I reiterate my thoughts about Facebook and LinkedIn in full, I’d like to address his assumption because you should ‘never assume’. I was one of the very first employed by AOL when it was a small startup during the mid 90’s. Amongst launching 56k modem protocol and many other interesting technologies such as AIM, I had to self-each myself how to build a Web site so I could teach the trainers, who then taught the technicians. So, like many others who have commentated on the subject, I’ve been around a while. Now that I’m finished with the anatomy size comparison in the mirror I’d like to address the debate.

I don’t dismiss LinkedIn or any other site/tool/technique for the latest fad. I make the switch when the current incumbent adds little to no value to me personally. I like LinkedIn. It does what it says on the tin. But for me, that’s not enough anymore. I continue to use Facebook for many business related activities. For example, I offered the position as Chair of Segala to one of my connections on Facebook recently. Why? Well because it’s the only way we communicate (apart from face to face of course).

As I’ve said before, the people with whom I’m connected on Facebook include some of the most senior people at the biggest brands in the world, as well as government agencies and design agencies. Facebook isn’t dead. It’s only dead to those who move from fad to fad.

I never went to university so I don’t have university friends on Facebook. My 586 Facebook connections is mostly made up of the people with whom I’m connected in real life. Although Facebook has and continues to help me create and build new meaningful relationships with people I may not otherwise have met.

I was going to link to my post to which Bernie links, but it’s still on the Segala blog. It was supposed to be moved to this blog along with everything else that’s not related to Segala’s business so I’ve published my original thought piece below. The original post attracted 40 comments so it managed to stimulate a debate. I believe it triggered a few email forum debates too.

My original thought piece which holds truth today

Ok, for the last time and to put an end to some speculation, I’m no longer updating my LinkedIn profile (full stop).

The reason is simple. I use Facebook as my shop window, into which you can see who I am, who I know, what I stand for, what I’m working on, where I am and anything else I’d like you to know. If I write a blog post, send a twitter or have pictures taken of me talking at an event, you’ll see them via my RSS feeds which are pulled in from various Web sites.

You’ll even see pictures of me looking pissed (even though I’m not in 99% of them, honest). You’ll also see information about projects I’m working on and networking events I’d like my friends and colleagues to attend. Think of Facebook (my use of it anyway) as a very discrete marketing tool, albeit a byproduct of using the tool and network for fun.

I don’t expect all my LinkedIn connections to ‘move’ to Facebook, but I woud like them to register a Facebook account if they’re really interested in ‘connecting’ with me. Some are likely to be skeptical, assuming Facebook isn’t for business people. If you’re one of these people, think again and look at my list of friends. Amongst them you’ll find very senior, connected and respected people from organisations such as Microsoft, Vodafone, O2, emap, BT, New Media Age (NMA), Haymarket, Conchango and the BBC to name but a few. Then, look at their network of friends… you’ll notice that many of us have mutual friends. This is the best implementation of technology I’ve seen to help build circles of trust.

Facebook enables me to ‘engage’ with friends and colleagues on a regular basis. It helps me to build new relationships and strengthen current ones seamlessly. It even helps my close friends and I to communicate more frequently. I even find myself checking Facebook messages before opening an email client. Most of my personal messages are business related so it’s not as if I’m turning to fun before important work (although they are the same thing for me). I think it must be the personal touch of Facebook.

I would like to point out, that you are not forced to show people anything you’d rather not share. You can also control what you see of others, to ensure you don’t get swamped with stuff you don’t care about.

I will sometimes (however rare) accept Facebook connection requests from people I don’t know personally. This however, only happens when they’re friends of people I know well and trust. It must also be relevant. I also connect with people who are associated with organisations with which I’ve got a strong relationship. For example, I’ve started a group for BIMA (British Interactive Media Association). I Chair BIMA so it would be rude not to connect with members, all of whom I do want to engage with as much as possible! Facebook won’t replace the BIMA Web site, blog or email. It’s intended to aid the build of a community and promote BIMA related activity. Perhaps we’ll extend this to promoting the exclusive projects I’m working on with major brands.

For the record, I will continue to accept LinkedIn invites from people I know, but they’re worthless because I won’t be updating my profile and I won’t ever log in to use it. That is of course, assuming they remain Social Network 1.0 status while Facebook steams ahead as Social Network 3.0 service pack 16. Heck, I don’t even us Upcoming anymore for events.

So, get yourself onto Facebook if you wish to grab my attention or promote business and fun related stuff that’s relevant to both of us

This post is also intended to address blog posts written by people such as Richard Sedley, Wired Gecko, Aidan, Dennis Howlett. Jemima Kiss from the Guardian has written a nice light hearted piece. It’s also intended to address the few email forums that picked up on my twitter message about my move. Who said twitter doesn’t work?!

It’s sometimes easier to write your own post than it is to write huge comments on other blogs.

[Update] I definitely don’t need LinkedIn anymore as I’ve just exported my entire address book. They should look to import more feeds, rather than export everything.

I use Facebook less but only because I now use other tools with it, such as Twitter, with which I communicate with very early adopters of social media.

Do you think it still holds true. Have you stopped using Facebook? Do you use it more or less?

I wrote a post earlier in the week with my travel plans for the 3GSM Congress. I can now provide the names of those of us having a get together on Tuesday.

Attendees confirmed so far

Paul Walsh
Pat Phelan
Sean O Mahony
Florian Seroussi
Jenny Callicot
Bhaskar Roy
Loren Feldman
Oliver Starr
Paul Walsh
Frank Hannigan
Dennis Howlett
Daniel Appelquist

Time: from 7 pm till 9 pm
5 mins from exhibition

Institut del Teatre,
Plaça Margarida Xirgu, s/n
08004 Barcelona

Join us for a beer and a snack, lots of surprise guests, relax with some of your fellow mobile twitter peeps. (I got lazy and did a copy ‘n paste job on Pat’s post)

Watch all the news live from our dedicated 3GSM video channel

Please leave a comment here or on Pat’s blog if you wish to attend. Hope to see you there.