Graeme Thickins on Tech

Reflections & analysis about innovation, technology, startups, investing, healthcare, and more .... with a focus on Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes. Blogging continuously since 2005.

Category: Marketing/Branding/PR (Page 16 of 29)

Look Who Made the ‘Top 100 Analyst Blogs’ Again

February 20, 2008 / / 6 Comments

Aw, shucks — I owe it to all of you out there, my valued, loyal readers….sigh, sniff.  Seriously, I don’t do this for glory, and Lord knows not for dollars. But it’s fun getting recognized like this, and it’s at least my second time, so I guess I should blog about it. Top100analystblogs
This rating system was devised by Jonny Bentwood, a really smart analyst relations exec with Edelman PR in the UK. [He must be smart if he keeps including me, right?] And I seriously do believe that Edelman is the leading PR firm in the world, because they keep showing that they "get" new media better than any other firm out there in my view.

I got a kick out of seeing my friend Jeremiah Owyang, out in the Bay Area, get the #1 ranking.  His Web Strategy blog has always been great, and this is the first Top 100 ranking since he became a senior analyst at Forrester, focusing in social media. They were very lucky to snag Jeremiah, and his blog is now naturally seeing rapid new growth in readership and influence. He’s also one of my favorite "follows" on Twitter.  The man is a social media maniac! And, yes, that is a good thing… 🙂 His research and analysis just keep getting better and better.

Jonny Bentwood (I love the way he spells Jonny) compiles his Top 100 Analyst Blogs ranking from an analyst blog directory published by Tekrati, run by Barbara French out in NorCal.  That directory starts here (with the "A" listings), and is quite comprehensive. [My two blogs are listed under "G" for the name of my company.] Barbara has an accomplished background in analyst relations, and has built an impressive business over the years, with one heck of a great web presence. She blogs regularly, too — of course.

Having been a freelance analyst and writer for some time, and having done analyst relations for at least one of the startups where I’ve headed marketing, I have a great affinity towards this profession — actually, for both sides of the fence. And blogging, I believe, has been a real boon to it, especially benefiting the customers, the users, of the research and analysis. And I know Barbara agrees with me on that.

I just want to say thanks again to my readers, seriously. It makes all the effort worthwhile just to get the emails that float in, out of the blue, from time to time, thanking me for my blog. (Just got one yesterday, from a smart young guy in San Diego who’s a fellow surfer and Surfrider Foundation supporter and heads a cool, new online travel business called Travature.)  I always welcome your thoughts about my blog, whether in the comments or by emailing me at graeme (at) thickins (dot) com. I really do appreciate hearing from you.  Cheers!

 

Macworld 2008: Thoughts and Images

January 16, 2008 / / 0 Comments

It was a long, hard day at the office-away-from-home.  My feet sure hurt, I’m on mega-sensory-overload, and more people are definitely not something I want to deal with right now — trust me.  But, somehow, I seem to have survived Macworld Day One, as I blog here from Annabelle’s Bar & Bistro next to the hotel, just up the street from site of this huge gathering. Annabellesbistro_3

Watching the Steve Jobs keynote on the live blogs, starting at 9:00 am, was quite an experience again — even if it was uneven as far as connections go here on-site, on the press room wi-fi. (This is the first time I’ve tried to watch the keynote from the event itself.) All the bandwidth the techies could muster here was being challenged beyond belief, I’m sure.  I Twittered a lot while I was watching live blog updates from Gizmodo and Engadget (simultaneously listening to a fun, live discussion of the proceedings streamed from Mactalk in Australia) — though a few of my tweets somehow just disappeared into the ether, I later realized. I was pretty happy with Twitter up till then, though I later saw bloggers saying it was a big disappointment this day. Anyway, a few images I snapped last night and today are included here, and everything I’ve shot so far on this
trip is now up on Flickr.

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As I said on my Twitters, the market sure didn’t seem to like the keynote today — AAPL just kept trending down throughout the whole thing.  Counting after-hours trading, Apple’s stock had drooped more than 9%, or more than $16, on the day.  That sure went against what the pundits were predicting!   And it also was the opposite of what happened during most, if not all, previous Macworlds — at least those in recent years that I’ve heard about. And Forbes’ take later in the afternoon sure echoed what the market was saying — with this less than complimentary headine: Jobs Fails to Wow at Macworld.  Maybe the worshiped one is losing the magic touch, huh?

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I’ll be here at Macworld till 1:00 pm or so tomorrow, when I must leave for the airport, so I may grab some more images with my new Canon Powershot before I leave.

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High Anticipation at Macworld

January 15, 2008 / / 1 Comment

The hotel is stirring early this morning. I thought I’d sleep in till maybe 5:30 or so (still kinda being on MN time and all), but no way — doors were slamming in the hallway early. [And then I found out this damn hotel doesn’t even put coffee out in the lobby till 7:00 am? Geez…] Anyway, the line for the Steve Jobs keynote must be hugely long already, two blocks down 4th Street. I’m convinced people were in it all night.Macworldkeynotesign

I don’t care — I’ll follow it on the blogs.  If all those bloggers really want to invest that much effort, work that hard, to type faster than the next guy, who am I not to relax and take advantage of it?  I did it last year while sitting comfortably in the CES Bloghaus — I’ll do the same this year.Stevejobsiflubbed

Which blogs are the best bet?  Well, Paul Kedrosky suggests these major names, but there are many. For the past several years, Apple has not provided a live video stream (rather, a tape-delayed broadcast hours later), but Kedrosky says they really have an obligation to, since it’s such a market-moving event.  And he’s right — an analyst on CNBC this morning even said GOOG and EMC will get a boost today from Macworld, with announcements related to the event. So, it’s more than just AAPL here, which is likely to get a 4-5% pop itself, I just heard.  Here’s what I said in comment on Kedrosky’s blog:

yeah – Walt Mossberg et al get unfair advantage to trade stocks 🙂

the competition to get into the keynote is unreal – soo restrictive – I talked to a guy in the press registration line yesterday who’s been to 12 Macworlds, and even he can’t get in this time

when I asked the lady behind the desk about a live stream, she said, "Well, I can’t say" – so there may be hope

We’ll see if that live stream happens. You might want to watch the Macworld Expo site.

Biggest Macworld Ever, But More Sedate?

January 14, 2008 / / 0 Comments

The lines were blocks long around Moscone West early this morning, and that was just people wanting to get their badges.  The real stuff doesn’t even start till tomorrow morning — the Steve Jobs keynote and the opening of the exhibitor floors. Somethingintheair

From the Starbucks a block away, and now from the media lounge, the best stuff I’ve seen online so far:
• Troy Wolverton’s piece in the Merc News comparing to last year’s event, Macworld: Always cool, but calmer?

• A UK site that reported Job’s keynote speech outline has been spied on the web, which was repeated by another site here: Steve Jobs Macworld 2008 Keynote Speech Leaked on Wikipedia. True?  Who knows. (Any Apple employee discovered leaking anything gets summarily fired and forfeits every penny of their financial benefits, based on the contract they sign when they accept employment.)
• Macapper ran this Pre-Show Link Orgy post.
• Mainstream blog Techcrunch reported earlier today about Google Beefing Up the iPhone Interface.
• And I discovered I only need to carry my iPhone to navigate the Macworld showfloor, thanks to this little iPhone app. Great, cuz this laptop bag is already getting heavy….

More soon.

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