It is Day 1 of the WebMaster World Conference. I'm planning to blog intermittently throughout the conference on the sessions I attend -- so here goes with the first update.

John Batelle just gave the Keynote and introduced his new company, FM Publishing. John talked a bit about Search, Web.20 and the transformation of web publishing.

Introduction / Web2.0:
- we used to think that whomever won the browser wars would win the internet...not the case, MSFT is still playing catch-up on internet services
- what we have found is that people search: "what you are trying to get to is what is important"
- it is about "content and services" not the software that gets you there
- he believes that companies that win are the ones that leverage the architecture of participation - they let their customers build their business for them.
- The value that is provided is not the content per se, but rather the innovation in assembly / organization and accessibility of the aggregated content
- and of course, like jason fried, he talked about the importance of utilizing small teams to accomplish big things and the value of the long tail.

Search:
- Search is our navigation tool
- the cultural impact of search has just began (i totally agree with him here -- we're still in the early ages of discovery...that's what makes this all so interesting!)
-  Safa Rashtchy (lead investment analyst on search) thinks that the search advertising market will be ~$25B in 2010.

Publishing:
- Marketing in post search world: intent before content (are they looking for you?)
- Blogs are the ultimate definition of long tail
- A good blog has great editing/filtering, is deep linked and conversational. Currently they aren't monetized well -- but he expects the commercialization of blogs to come and that their current unmonetized state isn't  a required attribute of good blogging
- He gave a great slide indicating the readership of some top blogs / aggregation sites:
   o BoingBoing 1.7 million 
   o waxy.org - 700K
   o Searchblog = 90K
- The essence of great publications: conversations between Publisher-marketer-audience

He also talked a bit about Blog monetization and the opportunity for advertisers to connect with this massive publishing base -- and the complexity due to scale. He asked: How do you get your movie promo on 10,000 blogs targeting men 18-24,and make it easy to manage? Good question :) The key thing he notes is that bloggers want to be part of the conversation around which ads are shown on their site - they want to select the ads themselves. He also talked about how AdSense isn't really working for this market.

Federated Media (FM Publishing):
- authors own their own site and their own content
- music label for blogs
- very selective -- start w/ tech culture, then going to games etc.

I was surprised that John's new company doesn't leverage the long tail in a deep way-- it would seem to me that he would want top blogs as sort of premier distribution partners but then through affiliation he could leverage a large network of categorized blogs -- maybe letting people categorize their entry and if it relates add that content to his publishing / ad connection platform. hmmm.

I'm heading out to see Blue Scholars (my new favorite local band) tomorrow night at Chop Suey. Details below. I think we are meeting for drinks somewhere before -- i'll update the space with that info. If you are interested in coming, please join me!

Blue Scholars @ Chop Suey
Friday, June 17, 2005
10:00 PM Show
Tickets are $5, $8 at the Door.

I've blogged before about how great these guys are, but in case i haven't enrolled you, here's a snippet from the review in the stranger:
" The group's political commitment is matched by a strong commitment to place-to Seattle's streets and neighborhoods, particularly the University District. Their new track "The Ave" is not only about the life that streams through that corridor of restaurants and stores, but is also composed of samples from LPs purchased on the Ave. The group's masterpiece, however, is "Inkwell," which is both hiphop art and social document-a local history of rap "since big butts and teen spirit" dropped in the early '90s. The track has a delicious Latin guitar lick and a booming drum loop that offers Geologic firm ground on which to travel from past to present. "  (Read more...)

another quote i like: 
"THE VICTOR: SEATTLE If Seattle hiphop is going to blow up, it's going to happen soon. The Boom Bap Project and the Blue Scholars are part of the hiphop revolution that will transform the sound of our city for years to come. "

anyways, if you are in seattle, show your sea-tac pride and support the local boys in their hippity-hoppity re-release album party.

Quote

My house
If you are on the Microsoft corpnet, check out this place: My house

 

this t-shirt would look bad on women.

however, it got me to wondering about the demographics behind ipod users -- are there more women or men with ipods? what's the lifestyle of the average user? are they scappy music fans or bach-loving-reformed geeks? all things considered, i'm betting men and mostly gay men. I'm basing this on no data whatsoever -- other than that the ipod is a metrosexual gadget --it is really more of an accessory.

it was almost balmy today in seattle, and so to celebrate the rise in temperature, and the new spaces release, i've updated the look and feel of my blog with the "simple green" theme.

i swear i will start blogging more soon.

i just posted on my main blog about Provo's law that prohibit's households from having more than two pets. Yep. Click HERE to read my post.