People mentioned in this video:

Robert Scoble
Hugh McLeod
Loren Feldman
Shel Israel
Fake Shel Israel

Posted by James at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Alright, so the Loren Feldman - Shel Israel spat might be a little out of hand, but you've got to admit, Loren is making some entertaining videos. This one really cracked me up.

HA-CHA-CHA-CHA-CHA!

Posted by James at 06:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This video captures the magic of the Subaru WRX STI - sadly, it also shows how underwhelming the new body style is as well. Still, great marketing showing the soul of the STI.

Posted by James at 06:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gotta love my sister. Last night she presented me with my marketing hero, Seth Godin, in action figure form. I had no idea they really made these...

Thanks sis!!!

Posted by James at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'd never heard about Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain before, but thanks to my dad, I know about it now - and it RULES.

The first line from the Forbes article my dad gave me says it all...

"If you've ever thought while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, "You know, this is nice. But wouldn't it look better set on fire?" then las Fallas--Spain's annual homage to everything explosive or combustible--is for you."

To learn how the citizens of Valencia work all year to build million dollar statues, only to blow them up in a matter of minutes, read this article.

It kinda makes that Burning Man look like a biatch, eh?

Posted by James at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Dubai, and the rest of the Gulf State, are becoming more and more important on the world stage - but most of us know very little about these places. So I thought I would share some interesting facts with you about Dubai I ran across in Businessweek and Wikipedia that might help you from one of the more common misconceptions about Dubai - the source of its great wealth:

• Oil and gas revenues are only 6% of the total revenues in Dubai's economy
• Dubai is within a few decades of exhausting its oil and gas supplies
• Tourism accounts for about a third of Dubai's revenues
• Trading, Dubai's port and financial services account for the majority of Dubai's wealth

So before you write off the people of Dubai as a bunch of guys who are living fat off of oil money, think again. Dubai is an amazing example of capitalism building something out of nothing, and there is a lot we can learn from what's going on there.

Oh yeah, special bonus - here's a map that shows where Dubai is...just in case you were wondering (most people do).

Posted by James at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

...doesn't mean you should.

No, I'm not talking about ski resorts seeding the clouds, I'm talking about this website that I ran across today.

I mean, this is a good looking site - the pictures are good, the design is solid - but then someone decided it would be cool if it was snowing...in all of the still photos.

Just like the process of creating art, web design has a lot to do with knowing when your work is done.

This particular site was done just before it started snowing.

Posted by James at 06:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...if you use it, you might get your ass kicked.

Learn more about the Nubrella here...great concept, but it'll be hard to convince people to look like a Storm Trooper bobble-head when it rains.

[via]

Posted by James at 07:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

9 wonderful seconds from TV in Haiti. Gets funnier every time you watch it, I promise.

[via]

Posted by James at 07:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I mentioned a little while back that I might be speaking at a conference this September in Dallas about online branding and reputation management...well, that was confirmed, so I will be a speaker. Needless to say I'm excited as online reputation management and branding is of great interest to me...but it seems like I'm not the only one who's thinking this topic.

Here's a video from the social media Super-Hero Gary Vaynerchuk talking about how the tech world of 2008 = the hip hop world of 1985.

God, Gary is a stud.

Posted by James at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)