3 thoughts for the week of November 2, 2009 (be a farmer, an un-office & augmented reality)

November 3, 2009/3thought/Last Updated January 6, 2013

MattAR_SheaFarmer

  1. We attended a fundraising event last week for Geek Girl Camp that featured Chris Brogan as the speaker. It was a really great event and one of the key take-aways was the concept of “be a farmer.” Chris (or should we be saying “best-selling author, Mr. Brogan”?) emphasized that to many businesses think like machinists. That is they expect to push that button, turn that knob and get X result. The problem is that if you business involves PEOPLE, they rarely react like machines. If business thought like a farmer and focussed on nurturing, their long term efforts would bare much more fruit. How to nurture? Build relationships, take an interest in what is interesting to your audience (not just as it relates to your business), help people, and LISTEN. This becomes especially important when business frame their social media efforts. It’s not about the magic bullet, it’s about the long term relationship. So, break out those overalls. We’ve all got some farming to do.
    Read more about what Chris Brogan has to say about building your community    .
  2. The Geek Girl event was also held at a really nifty space called Venture. You walked in and were greeted with a stocked coffee bar, comfy leather easy chairs, contemporary art and light fixtures, and a bright orange accent wall. But there were also a lot – a LOT –of tables, each with a very conveniently placed power outlet. Coolest Wi-Fi Cafe ever? Nope, Venture is an office on demand – you can sign up for a membership (like a gym) and get access to conference rooms, presentation equipment, coffee and a cool place to work. With a larger percentage of modern workers taking their office out of the office (working remotely, home offices, mobile offices), and many preferring to conduct business in coffee shops any way, this business model seems to address a lot of needs. Venture currently has locations in Hyannis and Orleans, but if they ever come to Plymouth, the 3thought team would seriously consider a membership. We’ve heard of other community office spaces like this. Do you have one in your area? What do you think of the concept as a whole?
  3. One of the biggest buzz-worthy technologies right now is “Augmented Reality.” Just run a search in twitter and you will see all the references as they relate to many different applications. Last week, Matt created his very own Augmented Reality business card at Genuine Interactive, and on Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, he attended an AIGA event about User Interface Design & Mobile Augmented Reality. The event featured Dana Farbo of Acrossair. His company generated a ton of buzz in tech circles this summer with the release of the “Nearest Tube” application for the iPhone 3Gs. What is “AR” exactly? In the simplest terms, it is the merging of computer generated imagery with images of of the real world in real time. It’s a technology that’s been around since the 60‘s, but only within the last 15 years has become part of our normal lives. Most of us didn’t even realize it either. Remember the first time you saw the line of scrimmage and 1st down line during a football broadcast? That’s AR! How could we live without it now? Today with the increasing popularity of smart phones and shift away from the standard feature phone, AR is permeating our lives even further.

    So what do you think? Passing Fad? Wave of the Future? Natural Evolution? Coolest Thing Ever? Dumb Computer Magic Tricks?

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