Article By: Joshua 'The Red' Russak (Red@aclion.com)

NY Tech Meetup may be my favorite event of all time. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but it is definitely an amazing event. I'm using a lot of adjectives so let me explain...For one, you should know what Meetup.com is and if you don't, take the Meetup.com Tour here. [I would have hosted the video explanation, but apparently, the minute I embedded it here, it was no longer on Vimeo.]

So there you go. That was easy. Now, the CEO and Co-Founder's is Scott Heiferman. Scott focuses the team on the goal of a Meetup Everywhere About Most Everything.

BUT WHAT'S IMPORTANT FOR THE SAKE OF THIS BLOG IS... He's the Organizer of NY Tech Meetup. You can find Scott's blog at scott.heiferman.com. I had the pleasure of not knowing knowing he was the CEO of Meetup when I first met him at the June '08 NY-Tech Meetup during InternetWeek. (*Which probably explains why he made sure to announce who he was during the July '08 meetup, last night...so yea, I'm giving myself credit there).

So now you're wondering, what's NY-Tech Meetup? If you're not asking that, then I'm assuming you're either socially retarded or well informed and probably met me at one time or another. Either way, for you soci-tards, check out the NY Tech Meetup Site here. Simply: "On the 1st Tuesday each month at 7PM, 6 people get 5 minutes each to demo something cool to New York's tech community (geeks, investors, entrepreneurs, hackers, etc)." It also happens to be the first and only one run by Scott. It's a great event and Scott puts a lot of care into making sure it runs well. What's the catch? $10.00 and required RSVP/limited attendance.

So why am I talking about this event? BECAUSE YOU SHOULD BE THERE! It hosts 400 people and the venue is spectacular. Hosted in the ballroom/entry hall of The IAC (*a perfect venue for online tech community, no?) in front of a the Largest Video Wall In The World:

"The world’s largest high resolution, edge-blended video wall resides inside the lobby of InterActiveCorp’s (IAC) global headquarters in the Chelsea District of New York City. The venue is renowned architect Frank Gehry’s first building in New York City, featuring a 10-story glass façade with contours reminiscent of the unfurled, wind-tossed sails of a ship. The audio visual design and build was accomplished by Edison NJ based McCann Systems. There are two video walls in the lobby. The larger, the West Wall, is the largest, 120’ x 11’, permanently installed, edge-blended video wall in the world, which is clearly visible from the West Side Highway."

It's a spectacular sight to see, and an even more effective presentation tool. I had the pleasure of getting a tour of how-it-works last night. To protect my sources, I'll just refer to him as "SH the AV Guru". It's amazing, he works full time to keep that among other display (both audio and visual) systems up and running throughout the entire IAC building. Thank you "AV Guru" and I look forward to meeting you again.

As for the content, LAST NIGHT WAS AMAZING! Every time I go, I have a great and make great contacts. It's perfect for entrepreneurs of all ages and somehow related to the interactive/new-media industry. The way it works is simple: You get 5 minutes to pitch your company followed up by a Q&A while the next presenter sets up. Are you up to the challenge?

Unfortunately, not all presentations are full of "Oooohh's" and "Ahhhh's", but for the most part everything you see is impressive and innovative. Here are a few examples of companies that presented last night: Wakozi, Pluribo, DailyLit, TransClick, Cause Caller, Cloudsmith & iYear. Some of the technology was worthy of a standing ovation, but for my sake, I stay seated.

I had the change meat the CEO's and founders of these companies and they are very down-to-earth and willing to open up about their products and I find that to be a very personable experience you rarely find anywhere else. Definitely one of the major benefits in attending this event.

Oh...one more thing: I got 2 free drinks last night. Not sure if that will be a regular thing, but it's definitely worth going again. JUST DON'T TAKE MY SPOT! The next one is in August, so try and make it!

Article By: Joshua 'The Red' Russak (Red@aclion.com)

I was recently reading a Mediapost article in their Online Video Insider Publication where they addressed the question: "Can we reach television-sized audiences using online video?" And they continued to say "The answer is, unequivocally, yes.". That means a lot for the monetization efforts for online video. In my recent article: Online Video - Q2 Tells All, According to ComScore, Internet users in the U.S. watched 11.5 billion online videos in March 2008, up 13% over February 2008 and 64% year-over-year. And I continued to point out that the IAB is attempting to standardize the monetization of online video. Until that "standard happens" I like to keep myself up to date on what big video networks are doing now, pro and user-gen alike. I have to admit, each company has made their own attempts. For the purposes of entertainment, I chose YouTube and Hulu and covered some of the efforts made to "monetize" their constantly growing database of video:

AND

...BUT, before I go ahead and explain why, I have to point out a very entertaining and new way to monetize online video: As covered in the NYTimes article "Coming Soon To YouTube: My Face-Lift", they have taken online advertising to a new and rather nauseating level. Plastic surgeons are offering patients free/discounted services in return for posting their operations on YouTube. The catch: They have to write a GOOD REVIEW and post a link to the surgeon's web-site.

According to the New York Times, more than 6,400 videos of Botox, breast augmentation and Lasik appear on YouTube alone. (Article Here)

And that completes my User-Gen Coverage. Now, if you're a hungry online video addict, I suggest Hulu. I recently started "Arrested Development" on Hulu and it has been an eye opening experience comparing their "monetization" methods.

The site itself has been out of Beta for 3 months now, and in terms of ranking, they ahve already made their way to Nielsen's top-10 video sites. In terms of turning advertising, they've served more videos in May than ABC.com.

AlleyInsider.com, one of my favorite online industry blogs out there (besides this one, of course), They "estimate Hulu will sell between $45 million and $90 million of advertising during its first 12 months -- April 2008 through March 2009. By the time it pays off its content partners, it will book between $12.5 million and $25 million in net revenue. (Which isn't bad for a start-up, actually.)" They have painted a map of how Hulu will get there in their posting, "Hulu: A Consumer Success But Still A Small Business" One quote I particularly enjoyed...

On the low end, we estimate that Hulu.com will generate close to the revenue generated by, say NBC.com, which is said to generate "tens of millions" in revenue this year. On the high end, Hulu would net $90 million in gross ad sales -- in the same league as some estimates for YouTube.

It seems to me that both YouTube and Hulu have their challenges set up for them, both of which are worlds apart. I'll follow them closely as we reach an IAB "standard", but until that happens, just keep up to date and if you see anything out of the ordinary, let me know. E-mail me anytime at Red@aclion.com Now if you'll excuse me, it's my lunch break and I'm almost done with Season 1 of Arrested Development :)

Article By: Dan Goldsmith (Dan@aclion.com)

As has been well documented this past year one of the more prolific beneficiaries of the Facebook phenomenon has been the world of non-profit fund raising and mission awareness. I can join a group in support of the cause of my choice and even solicit my friends to donate to such a cause. Many of us took advantage of our own little personal reach by posting supportive "buttons" for our recent favorite Presidential Candidates as well as Comic PM Political Commentators Steward and Colbert.

However I was struck by a recent awareness campaign's viral dynamic and its personal impact. Last week I noticed a few of my friends had changed their profile pictures - no big deal. However what was odd was that more and more of my friends had been changing their photos to the SAME image. The picture a facial close up of a young male supported by a statement "I am waiting for Gilad". It was an amature image - almost as simple a pic as you or I could take of our buddy or our brother. Just a simple pic - no airbrush - no carved muscular body - no facial expression suggesting we do something or buy something. I was a bit fuzzy, over exposed and not particularly attractive. I asked a few friends asking what the deal was with all of them changing to to the same profile pic. I was told the the simple face was that of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, one of the eight kidnapped Israeli soldiers who are still missing.

The group has attracted close to 47,000 members, who agreed to switch their status on Facebook from broadcasting their current mood or the details of their latest meal to a more passionate tone of how they felt about Shalit's continued abduction.

I too joined and posted and within hours was getting inquiries about the pic and so too did the virality go. More and more the world of new media tries to define the right look and the right distribution strategy and metrics etc etc etc. For all I know this was a targeted campaign run by a tidy and aggressive interactive strategy shop who has just notched up another "win". My guess is that this is not a formed strategy but a simple plea supported by a simple photo.

The only word that comes to me right now is "pure" - the face is pure as is the statement "waiting" for him is a silent but very powerful one. We are waiting for his return as we EXPECT it should happen. This simplicity of this campaign supported by a simple image moved me as well as did it display great velocity.

So I guess simple User Generated Content has significant power at times, no?

E-Mail By: Joshua Russak (Red@aclion.com)

Check out our 1st Newsletter for Summer 2008. Simple, fun and room to constantly add and improve....check it out:

 

ACLION.COM  |  JOB SEEKERS  |  CONTACT US  |   Subscribe To Our Blog

%firstname%,

Summer 2008 marks an amazing year here at AC Lion, NY's premier interactive executive search firm. Unfortunately, we can't exactly say the same for our current Economy. Like a tidal wave, "recession rumors" swept through every newspaper headline, blog and newsletter. But through it all, our economy is holding on strong. We've seen these surges come and go before - with 12 years of staffing experience - it's nothing new. We have surfed some of the biggest waves our economy threw at us and we continue to ride it to the end. 

 Have fun with some of our topics below and if you're interested in further reading, check out our blog, Blog.AClion.

 Enjoy! 

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Top10 Reasons to Look For a New Job

1. Your company is experiencing a downward spiral


2. Your relationship with your manager is damaged beyond repair


3. Your life situation has changed


4. Your values are at odds with the corporate culture


5. You've stopped having fun and enjoying your job


6. Your company is ethically challenged


7. You have behaved in ways that are considered improper


8. You've burned your bridges with your coworkers


9. Your stress level is high at work and is affecting your physical/mental health
10. You are unchallenged...

So are you ready to start looking? We can help find you "reasons" to like your new job. Check out OUR OPEN JOBS HERE. To read the whole article: Click Here. (compliments of About.com)

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AC Lion Resurfaces: Blog2.0!

Today, only about 12% of Fortune 500 corporations run a corporate blog. Yet companies that have made a commitment—including Dell, Eastman Kodak Co., IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and SAP—are now deep into blogging programs with multiple weblogs, dozens of bloggers and a wealth of expertise and best practices to share. (Businesses Embrace Blogging)

For many companies, especially that larger ones, the question isn't "To Blog Or Not To Blog", rather how to expand current blogging efforts and include them as an integral approach to their overall "Social Media" campaigns.

With that, AC Lion recently launched their new and improved BLOG 2.0!"Michael Martine of Remarkablogger defines a business blog as one that supports the sales and marketing efforts of your company". (BtoB)  With the help of newly appointed Marketing Coordinator, Joshua Russak, AC Lion has re-built, re-launched and SPICED-UP their blog! Check it out for yourself and stay on top of some of the major changes in the online Interactive Marketing space. Click below to see for yourself...

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5 Ways To Help "Relax" @ Work

It's SUMMER TIME! Yet, for many individuals "Work" & "Relax" don't seem to go together...that was until companies like GOOGLE and MICROSOFT began to implement "Fun/Relax" into their work environment. As a recruiter, one of the major questions we ask our job seekers is simply "what type of environment are you looking for?". Besides hearing I'd Like To Work From Home half of the time, I hear the word Fast-Paced and Relaxed paired together more often than not. The only way that is possible is by having the time to relax at work. 

Listed Below are 5 suggestions to finding ZEN in your workplace. Let us know if they help:

1. Find Your Breath
   
2. Get Sunlight and Wide Open Spaces
   
3. Get A Good Green or White Tea
   
4. Try Classical Music
   
5. Just relax....
   

....at AC Lion, we know all about how to relax (just ask the Job Seekers who've been here before). To see for yourself feel free to CONTACT US HERE. Read more from the original article here.

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Thank you for reading our newsletter and if you're interested in reading more about Industry Trends, take a look at our blog, www.Blog.ACLion.com. To read more about what we do,  check our website, click here.

 

All the best,

Alan Cutter | Founder & CEO

The AC Lion Team:
Alan Cutter, CEO
Mike Adler, Managing Partner
Dan Goldsmith, Managing Director
Bonnie Zaben, COO
Josh Russak, Online Marketing Coordinator
Ted O’Brien, Director

Matt Devlin, Executive Recruiter

Nadav Geft, Executive Recruiter

Josh Marmer, Executive Recruiter

David Shadpour, Executive Recruiter

Josh Benporat, Executive Recruiter

Eve Stieglitz, Executive Recruiter

Sean Weinberg, Executive Recruiter

Jessica Flitter, Sourcer

Edna Brown, Senior Associate