The organizers of this Toronto-based social event series are keeping the spirit of the startup community alive, one pint at a time this Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at the Elephant & Castle, 212 King Street West, Toronto, ON M5H 1K5.

It’s a simple concept: a grassroots effort to make sure startup folks get in touch and stay in touch. All it took was for Raymond Luk of Flow Ventures (a moving force behind Montreal Startup Drinks) to recruit Toronto all-round-instigator David Crow of Startup North who was on board immediately. Now, with Bryan Watson of the National Angel Capital Organization and CEO Fusion stepping up to help out, we are looking forward to an even better Startup Drinks Toronto 5!

Reserve your spot, and stop by for a drink and a spot of networking! Everyone is welcome.

By David Crow

Part 2

Reposted from StartupNorth post.

In my Part 1 yesterday I talked about reading Michael Cusumano’s Dealing with the Venture Capital Crisis in the October 2009 issue of Communications of the ACM, and how I was struck by the idea that our geographical proximity to the US, advanced economy, good universities and strong intellectual property rights might be the spawning ground for new ventures, sources of wealth, social welfare and employment.

I suggested we look at the positive factors and exploit the constraints to build opportunities and isolated two of these where entrepreneurs can have an impact.

• Advanced economies
• Sophisticated customers
• Good universities
• Strong intellectual property rights
• Favorable tax laws
• Vibrant entrepreneurial cultures

Sophisticated customers

For entrepreneurs, we need to work on helping develop sophisticated customers. Often these customers are located near where the entrepreneur is building their product or service offering. However, this is not a requirement. Entrepreneur should look for sophisticated customers around the globe. Including customers in your product design and development process is key to creating products that meet customer needs and to developing more sophisticated customers. Steve Blank and Eric Reis have proposed the Customer Development Manifesto and Lean Startup as ways for founders to engage customers in the earliest work. All startups should read these posts.

Vibrant entrepreneurial cultures

Isn’t this what we’re trying to do? Read our thoughts on:

• Because Startups Need Each Other
• How Startups will save Venture Capital in Canada
• I love my city, and so should you

Part of the reason that we are lucky enough to have Dave McClure in Toronto (and he had a great time). First Round Capital had office hours with Chris Fralic and Phin Barnes. We continue to see folks from Atlas Ventures, General Catalyst, and Microsoft (Don Dodge presented at StartupEmpire and will be presenting at CIX). This is a result of your participation. Canadian cities have a lot of buzz and attention based on the things that are going on.

It’s cumulative!

It is the force of a thousand butterflies flapping their wings. All of the blogging, twittering, attending conferences, showing up to events, participating online. It’s about the DemoCamps, Launch Parties, StartupDrinks, Social Media Breakfasts, Third Tuesdays, Founders & Funders, NEWTECH, SproutUps, Meshes, and everything else.  It is a cumulative effect. It doesn’t take a lot of extra effort, but it adds up to the rest of the world paying attention to the noise.

We have great spokespersons like Saul Colt, Mathew Ingram, Mike Lee, Michael McDerment, Leila Boujnane, Brian Sharwood, Sarah Prevette, Pema Hagen, Bryan Watson, Anand Agarawala and others running around the world telling their stories of being a startup and the reasons they are doing it in Toronto. In Vancouver there’s Robert Scales, Kris Krug, Boris Mann, BootupLabs, Boris Wertz, Andre Charland, amd others. In Montreal it’s Austin Hill, Heri Rakotomalala, John Stokes, George Favvas, Ben Yoskovitz, Fred Ngo, Pinny Gniwisch, Ray Luk and others. Let’s not forget Social Media Breakfast, StartupOttawa, Scott Lake, Allan Isfan, Jacqui Murphy, and everyone that I’ve missed (it’s on purpose, because I don’t like you any more and I hate your startups).

But it is up to us to make noise. It’s up to us to build successful companies. It’s up to us to make Canada a better place for startups. No one is going to walk in and make it easier. We all have to participate and build a vibrant entrepreneurial culture. We need to talk about entrepreneurship as a career path. We need to talk to politicians about policy decisions.

So the first rule of being an entrepreneur is to reach out. Invite a friend. Make a connection. Tell a customer. Most of all, do the things that make the ecosystem better for you.

David Crow is an emerging technology and start-up advocate/evangelist. At Microsoft Canada, he is responsible for helping Canadian start-ups gain access to software, support and visibility in the Microsoft ecosystem through programs like BizSpark (details at microsoft.com/bizspark). David blogs at http://davidcrow.ca/ and http://startupnorth.ca/ or follow him on Twitter @davidcrow

By David Crow

Part 1

Reposted from StartupNorth post.

“With the proper level of ambition, talent, and opportunity, even a small, islolated company can turn the world into its market” – Michael Cusumano, Dealing with the Venture Capital Crisis

I’m reading Michael Cusumano’s Dealing with the Venture Capital Crisis in the October 2009 issue of Communications of the ACM, and I’m struck by the idea that our geographical proximity to the US, advanced economy, good universities and strong intellectual property rights might be the spawning ground for new ventures, sources of wealth, social welfare and employment. The article proposed four markets that meet these requirements including:

• Israel
  Estimated 2009 Population: 7.4 million
  2008 Venture: 483 investments totaling US$2.08B, $780M from local VCs (Cdn$2.54B/Cdn$904.84M)  (IVA)
  Investment-to-GDP: 0.0125/0.0045
• Finland
  Estimated 2009 Population: 5.3 million
  2008 Venture: 406 investments totaling 360M euros (Cdn$620.55M) (FVCA)
  Investment-to-GDP: 0.0032
• Ireland
  Estimated 2009 Population: 4.9 million
  2008 Venture: 160 investments totaling 243M euros (Cdn$418.87M) (IVCA)
  Investment-to-GDP: 0.0022
• New Zealand
  Estimated 2009 Population: 4.3 million
  2008 Venture: 52 investments totaling NZ$66.1M (Cdn$46.81M) (NZVCA)
  Investment-to-GDP: 0.0004

Well these are great numbers, how does this compare to Canada?

• Canada
  Estimated 2009 Population: 33.8 million
  2008 Venture: 371 investments totaling Cdn$1.3B (CVCA)
  Investment-to-GDP: 0.001

When compared to the US and Israel, Canada looks like a poor third cousin. What is the appropriate measure here? Investment as a percentage of GDP? Well, we fall somewhere between New Zealand and Ireland. Maybe things aren’t as bad as we’d like to think. We have more venture money than New Zealand. We’re closer to a larger market. Maybe we should start to look at the positive factors and exploit the constraints to build opportunities.

• Advanced economies
• Sophisticated customers
• Good universities
• Strong intellectual property rights
• Favourable tax laws
• Vibrant entrepreneurial cultures

What’s an entrepreneur to do?

In my opinion, there are only two items on this list that are directly impacted and influenced by entrepreneurs – Sophisticated customers and Vibrant entrepreneurial cultures. Sure, the net result of a more positive entrepreneurial environment is an advanced economy that produces good universities. We can lobby politicians for strong intellectual property rights (and consumer freedoms) and favorable tax laws. But there are advocacy groups like the National Angel Capital Organization and the Canadian Venture Capital Association that more directly benefit and are better funded to act on the behalf of entrepreneurial financing. This is not some list that necessarily deserves any additional attention than is currently dedicated to the political process. I’m arguing the entrepreneurs should build companies and leave this to the pundits, advocates, policy wonks and politicians.

Tomorrow, how Canada can become a better place for start-ups, by building sophisticated customers and vibrant entrepreneurial cultures.

David Crow is an emerging technology and start-up advocate/evangelist. At Microsoft Canada, he is responsible for helping Canadian start-ups gain access to software, support and visibility in the Microsoft ecosystem through programs like BizSpark (details at microsoft.com/bizspark). David blogs at http://davidcrow.ca/ and http://startupnorth.ca/ or follow him on Twitter @davidcrow

By David Crow
Reblogged DavidCrow.ca

“Because startup entrepreneurs need each other.”

The Philly Startup Leaders have published a manifesto for startups. The manifesto embraces the call for community. It reminds me of the passionate call that Jevon led with “How Startups will save Venture Capital in Canada” and “I love my city, and so should you”. It is about enabling entrepreneurs! And more importantly, it is about the realization that we are a community, we need to support each other.

Starting a company can be a long and lonely journey.

Each milestone is a small miracle—from idea to prototype, from first employee to first customer, from first revenues to first profits and eventually to a thriving, successful business.  Most startups fail along the way.

To survive this journey, startup entrepreneurs need many things. They need access to funding and talent.  They need support from their government and their community.  They need opportunities to educate themselves and their team.

But more than anything else, startup entrepreneurs need each other.

Toronto, Waterloo, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Halifax. We’re all very lucky. We have growing, thriving communities of entrepreneurs. We’re connected to each other. It is our responsibility to help each other. To make the connections. To build the fabric. To call bullshit. To build the next great thing.

This is beyond just casual connections. We have a lot of disparate resources and individuals. I’m not suggesting that we need “one ring to rule them all” but that we need to do a better job helping entrepreneurs connect with each other. And this will requires a personal commitment to an open, creative community and conversation. We need to build something like the PSL Values.

For Philly Startup Leaders Values and  What you can do to contribute, visit davidcrow.ca

David Crow is an emerging technology and start-up advocate/evangelist. At Microsoft Canada, he is responsible for helping Canadian start-ups gain access to software, support and visibility in the Microsoft ecosystem through programs like BizSpark (details at microsoft.com/bizspark). David blogs at http://davidcrow.ca/ and http://startupnorth.ca/ or follow him on Twitter @davidcrow

By David Crow

Reblogged DavidCrow.ca

I’m always giving consultants a hard time. It’s not that I dislike consultants. It’s not that I think that consulting is a bad business model. It’s that a consulting model is very difficult to get exponential growth. You know that hockey stick growth curve, well it’s actually an S-curve but early it looks like a hockey stick, that is so important. I’m talking about real numbers, not projections. Revenue. Users. Customers.  (Need help figuring out what you should be tracking? Go read Dave McClure’s AARRR! Startup Metrics for Pirates). And go read Mark MacLeod about why compound growth changing your funding requirement.

Consulting is a linear growth business. It grows based on:

• # of consultants billing
• # of billable hours
• hourly rate

Unfortunately, all of these are limiting variables. There are examples of very profitable firms and corporate structures that enable a very profitable model. I’m not discounting the profitability of the Big5 consulting firms. Consulting firms are generally limited to the number of consultants. Corporate culture is defined by its people.

The number of billable hours is a limiting factor. There are only 8760 hours in a year. You can’t work every hour. You can’t bill every working hour. It’s just not possible. Billable hours are the currency of consulting and legal firms. Many firms require 1700-2300 billable hours/year. Just think about this: 2300 hours/year =  46 billable hours/week + 2 weeks of vacation. If you assume a 80% utilization rate, i.e., 80% of your time is billable and 20% is on overhead/email/meetings/etc.  To achieve 46 billable hours you need to work 57.5 hours per week.

Hourly rate is generally set by the skill set and the market. Flippa. Rentacoder. 99designs. crowdSPRING. Elance. There are others willing to do it for less.The market determines a consultants hourly rate.

So for an independent consultant billing at $200/hour on a 57.5 hour work week at 80% utilization would have revenues of $460,000/year. This is an extremely high rate. Looking at the NASDAQ 100 using Cognizant averages $35,892 versus Apple ($1,014,969), Ebay ($551,049), Microsoft ($663,956) and others. This might be a little extreme. Don’t believe me, Hoovers.com suggests that IT/software consulting has average revenues of $160,000/employee (MarketResearch.com has this closer to $100,000/employee). Realistically the easiest way for a consulting firm to achieve exponential growth is to grow to the number of consultants working. And the risk of exponentially growing the number of consultants is that you kill the culture that attracts many people in the first place.

“But isn’t the consulting company itself a startup? No, not generally. A company has to be more than small and newly founded to be a startup. There are millions of small businesses in America, but only a few thousand are startups. To be a startup, a company has to be a product business, not a service business. By that  I mean  - not that it has to make something physical, but that it has to have one thing it sells to many people, rather than doing custom work for individual clients. Custom work doesn’t scale. To be a startup you need to be the band that sells a million copies of a song, not the band that makes money by playing at individual weddings and bar mitzvahs.” – Paul Graham

That said, consulting is a great way to take the risk out of a startup. The best consulting projects are the ones where you can build the software you want to sell as a product. This assumes that you have necessary legal agreements where you retain ownership of the intellectual property created during the consulting gig. This is often referred to as “bootstrapping” (read Paul Graham’s Fundraising Survival Guide to understand the tradeoffs).

There’s nothing wrong with consulting. It’s a perfectly viable career. It’s a perfectly viable business model. But do the math, it doesn’t scale like a product company.

David Crow is an emerging technology and start-up advocate/evangelist. At Microsoft Canada, he is responsible for helping Canadian start-ups gain access to software, support and visibility in the Microsoft ecosystem through programs like BizSpark (details at microsoft.com/bizspark). David blogs at http://davidcrow.ca/ and http://startupnorth.ca/ or follow him on Twitter @davidcrow

Capitalizing on the success of Startup Drinks 2, we are proud to bring you Startup Drinks 3! We’ll be keeping the spirit of the startup community alive, one pint at a time on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 to be held at Finn McCools, 70 The Esplanade, Toronto.

It’s a simple concept: a grassroots effort to make sure startup folks get in touch and stay in touch.

All it took was for Raymond Luk of Flow Ventures (http://www.flowventures.com/blog/) (a moving force behind Montreal Startup Drinks) to recruit Toronto all-round-instigator David Crow (http://davidcrow.ca/) who was on board immediately. Now, with Bryan Watson of the National Angel Capital Organization (http://www.angelinvestor.ca) and CEO Fusion (http://www.ceofusion.org) stepping up to help out, we are looking forward to an even better Startup Drinks Toronto 3!

Here are the details for your agenda:
- Date: Wednesday, 30 September, 2009
- Location: Finn McCools, 70 The Esplanade, Toronto, Telephone: 416-362-2495
- Time: 6pm – 9pm

Sign up here, come on the night for a drink and networking!  Everyone is welcome.

Not going to be in Toronto? Thats ok! Simultaneous Startup Drinks events will be happening in Ottawa and Montreal! See below for details.

Montreal
* Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 from 5:30pm
* Venue: Brutopia, 1215 Crescent St (http://www.brutopia.net/en_contact.htm)

Waterloo
* Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 from 5:30pm
* Venue: McMullan’s on King, 56 King Street North (http://www.mcmullans.ca/)

An exhilarating rollercoaster ride through the animated pictures of Sarah’s world, as she gets revenge on the man who broke her heart!

Written, Directed & Edited by Robin King
Starring Denise Hoey, David Crow, Ruth Larkin

This pixilation [stop-motion animation using real people] was made in 2006 for Screen South as part of the UK Film Council’s Digital Shorts scheme. As much as possible, it was made ‘in camera’ without digital superimposure, using thousands of printed materials.

Website: Stand Alone Films

December is here. This means any number of things. It means NaNoWriMo is over, it means the semester is almost over, it means West European Studies will hopefully get back to me soon one way or the other, it means we’re hip-deep in the Nativity Fast with the Christmas feast fast approaching, and it means we just got back from a much-needed, if shorter than ideal, vacation over the Thanksgiving break. It also means that a week from today, this blog will be a year old. Sheesh.

There were no natural disasters; I simply did not finish Pascha at the Singing School last week. Between preparing to go on the trip, going on the trip, and Megan getting sick the night before heading out for the trip, it just didn’t happen. I wrote most of Thanksgiving Day, got about 2,000 words into the ending, and I am within spitting distance, I just didn’t get there. My hope is that this weekend I’ll be able to make one last push to finish a first draft. I wrote approximately 11,442 words during November for an average of 381 words a day; not a stunning average by any means, but at least it’s an average, and the bottom line is that it was a busy month without NaNoWriMo. I am on the whole pleased that the event broke me out of the gridlock that had kept me stuck since probably April or May, now I just have to keep myself honest. Next year I might have another project for NaNoWriMo; we’ll see. There is something I’d very much like to write, but this would probably be much longer than 50,000 words, and it would require a lot of skill as a writer I’m not sure I have at this stage of the game. Maybe I’ll be brave enough to give it a shot, and maybe I won’t.

The Thanksgiving break spent in Nashville was fantastic, and a very welcome getaway for us Barrettses. Check out pictures here. As noted, the Daisy Hill Bed and Breakfast (pictured at right με γυναίκα μου) comes heartily recommended by us; do consider them if you’re looking for a place to stay in the area.

Friday we had lunch at The Pancake Pantry with our friend Chelsea; it’s an experience worth having and the food is good, but if you don’t like lines and prefer a quieter dining experience, it probably won’t be your thing. We also saw the replica of the Parthenon, which is impressive, but I gotta say, it loses something being made from poured concrete rather than marble.

Country music is decidedly not my thing, but I nonetheless have to admit that the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is a fascinating place to visit. Short version is that it is organized chronologically; you start at the third floor with early folk and gospel and work your way down, and you’re at the present day by the end of the second floor. I find that I am able to relate to and enjoy the early stuff a lot more than the music of the last 30-40 years; it seems to me there came a point where the musicians became very self-conscious and their music subsequently sounds, at least to me, extraordinarily contrived and false. The closer the connection to an actual folk tradition, the more genuine it sounds to my ears — to put it another way, somewhere along the way the musicians decide, “We’re going to play it and sing it this way because that’s what country music sounds like,” whereas before the mindset was perhaps more akin to, “Country music sounds like this because that’s how we play it and sing it.” As a result, at least to me (let me re-emphasize that this is subjective opinion) performers like Garth Brooks sound 100% calculated and processed, with everything intended to support a synthetic sound and persona. None of this is to say that musical forms can’t be codified or that something is inherently lost once there’s a formal idiom or tradition to which one adheres; that’s certainly what most classical is, and it’s definitely what liturgical music generally is. On the other hand, for a genre which — rather arrogantly, I find — claims to be “three chords and the truth”, it seems disingenuous to me that this would become prescriptive rather than descriptive. To quote the much underappreciated movie Singles, “You have an act, and not having an act is your act.” Good music is good music regardless of genre, but poseurs also transcend genre.

Anyway, back to the museum. There were a number of clever uses of speakers and acoustic tiles to create very localized sound exhibits, which in and of itself was interesting to see and hear. One of the things to which I found myself drawn was the archive section being visible in the center of the gallery behind glass; you can see all of their compact shelving, their sound editing stations, everything. It’s actually a useful reminder that the museum isn’t just a tourist attraction; it’s also a professional and scholarly resource. The stuff we see as the general public is really the tip of the iceberg at best.

But then, Elvis’ gold piano is pretty cool, too.

It would have been foolish to visit Nashville without hearing any live music, and we decided to go to a club called The Station Inn to hear The Roland White Band. Roland White is a bluegrass mandolin player who has been there, played that. He’s got a lot of institutional memory, as it were; he knows every song, knows who wrote it and when, and has probably taught somebody how to play it. He also has surrounded himself with a lot of absolutely fantastic younger musicians, most notably David Crow on the fiddle and Richard Bailey on the banjo. His bass player was also really good; tall, skinny younger guy named Andy, but I didn’t catch the last name. If anybody knows his last name, I’d love to know and find out what else he does. It was a show that was a lot of fun to see, and I plan on seeking out one of David Crow’s solo recordings. The Station Inn is also a neat little venue; it’s a dive that has Bud and hot nacho cheese sauce on tap and not much else, but it’s a dive with a long history, and best of all, it’s smoke-free!

On Saturday, we went to Andante Day Spa for much-needed and long-awaited massages, as well as an aromatherapy sauna. If you’re looking for something nice to do with a spouse or even just by yourself, these guys are very classy and quite reasonable for the services. We left there probably more relaxed than we’ve been in a looooooooooong time. Ramona is who did my massage, and I’d go back in a heartbeat.

After massages, we tried to go to Alektor Cafe and Books, the Orthodox bookshop in Nashville, but alas, they were closed unannounced. Perhaps this is not surprising.

Next we spent a couple of hours at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, seeing their Rodin exhibit as well as their photography and film exhibit. Both were interesting; I’d say I liked the latter more. I don’t really have the vocabulary to discuss sculpture (or much else, let’s be honest) intelligently; let’s just say that to my eyes, Rodin goes beyond glorification of the human body and into the realm of fetishization, and leave it at that for now. The photography exhibit included a section on Moroccan photographer Lalla Essaydi, and that was captivating. She does a lot with Arabic calligraphy on the body as well as on everything else; it was interesting to me for several reasons, and I may talk a bit more about it later.

Vespers, to say nothing of Matins and Divine Liturgy on Sunday, at Holy Trinity was something else; it’s a beautiful church, they’ve got a large number of psaltes who know what they’redoing (three of them evidently having studied wtih Lycourgos Angelopoulos) and as a result they’re able to utilize a traditional two-choir setup, they’ve got a very broad 

demographic and economic base while keeping their practice pretty unapologetically Byzantine, people were nice, and Fr. Gregory is a young convert priest who seems very enthusiastic. Every parish has its problems, to be sure, but these guys seem to have a lot of very good things going on.

After Vespers Saturday we had dinner at a delicatessen called, appropriately enough, Noshville; the food was plenty good, but it was also on the expensive side for what it was — my one complaint. To put it another way, it was authentic New York delicatessen in every way, including price.

Another bit of a walk through Lower Broadway followed, as did some rain. We saw Ryman Auditorium, and we also found something neat for which we weren’t looking was a life-sized statue of Chet Atkins; Megan decided to play air guitar next to him.

We relocated to Tāyst for drinks and dessert; Tāyst is a restaurant with similar goals to those of FARMBloomington, but I’d say with significantly less of a gimmick quotient and without the self-consciousness. They have a terrific bartender, and wonderful desserts — next time we’ll actually try a meal.

Sunday was something of a demonstration that there are no accidents; we had loaded up the car before going to Holy Trinity and intended to just hit the road after Liturgy. Halfway through Liturgy I realized we had forgotten our large bag of Maggiano’s leftovers at the bed and breakfast, which necessitated a return trip to get them. It being 1pm or 

so by this point, we needed to eat something as well; being right in the neighborhood, we decided to return to the Pancake Pantry. While in line, we were chatting about the morning at Holy Trinity, when the two gentlemen, clearly a father and son, turned around to us and said, “Orthodox Christians?” Turned out the son was also Orthodox. We ended up eating breakfast with them and having an awful lot to talk about; it doesn’t seem impossible that we could have met somehow one way or the other — it is a small world when one is Orthodox, after all — but given attendance at different parishes that morning, it was one of things where the odds of running into each other randomly were infinitesimal. Had we not forgotten the food at the bed and breakfast, we would have had no reason to return to that part of town, and it certainly wouldn’t have occurred to us to go the Pancake Pantry again. As I said, there are no accidents, we know some of the same people (although not the ones I would have expected) and hopefully we’ll keep in touch. He’s going to be attending Cambridge University (yes, that Cambridge) next fall for the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, and I’ll be very interested to hear about his work.

And with that, we were back on I-65 heading northbound. We had a ball in Nashville, we hope to go back at some point, and we were really happy with where we stayed and what we did. It was a much-need and much-appreciated getaway for us, and hopefully it won’t be another five and a half years before we get to do something like that again. I will say that I wasn’t thrilled to go back to work yesterday, but I also wasn’t exhausted from the vacation as I have often been on little whirlwind trips, so maybe we did something right in that regard.

Het onderwerp waar ik nu onderzoek naar doe is:
‘Me and My”
- visualiseer je persoonlijke netwerk op twee verschillende manieren en geef betekenis aan deze opdracht.

Hiervoor heb ik een opzet document: (meandmy) gemaakt, met daarin de  aanvankelijke planning en ook mijn leerdoelen.

Naast dit document ben ik op zoek geweest naar bronnen over dit onderwerp.
Één van die bronnen is het boek Visible Signs van David Crow.

Visible Signs by David Crow

Dit boek heb ik besteld bij Amazon.com en heb ik uitgelezen.
Het is een erg interessant boek waarin David Crow uitlegt over de theoriën die er bestaan over hoe de mens diverse beelden interpreteert en waarom men die op die manier interpreteert. Dit is erg relevant voor mijn casus.

Momenteel ben ik een korte samenvatting aan het maken van de bronnen, om de relevantie te filteren.
Met het oog op dit onderwerp heb ik er ook voor gekozen om voor Media en Creativiteit een artikel te schrijven over het effectiever visualiseren van je sociale netwerk. Het onderzoek en de bronnen die ik heb moeten raadplegen voor dit artikel zijn erg relevant voor mijn ‘Me and My’ concept.
Bij deze link naar dat artikel:
Artikel-visualisatie-social-networks

Dit artikel was een opdracht en was gelimiteerd tot een maximum aantal woorden. Dit maximum heb ik ook gebruikt, wat ertoe heeft geleden dat ik informatie moest filteren en helaas ook moest schrappen. Het artikel was dermate relevant dat veel informatie gebruikt kan worden voor mijn ‘Me and My’ concept.

Voor het ‘Me and My’ concept zal ik het artikel herschrijven, uitbreiden en overige relevante informatie en afbeeldingen toevoegen om de opdracht te voltooiien. De deadline die ik mezelf opleg ter voltooiing van deze opdracht ligt op: Vrijdag 5 December. Hierna kan ik verder met een andere opdracht, die ik zal gebruiken als een aanloop tot mijn uiteindelijke afstudeeropdracht.

De risicofactoren die bij dit concept horen zijn de overvloed aan bronnen die ik eventueel nog zou kunnen verwerken (naar gelang ze relevant zijn) en de tijd die er over is om het onderzoek af te ronden.

From David Crow, founder of Floracopeia and member of the DoshaCare Advisory Board.

1) Inhalations
This is the use of essential oils on hot compress, using diffusers, or onto hot water for inhalation. Standard dose is 10 drops. Best for respiratory and sinus, headaches. Caution: prolonged inhalation of concentrated essential oils can cause headaches, vertigo, dizziness, nausea, and lethargy.

2) Baths
A generally safe does is 5 – 10 drops of milder oils. Put oil on water immediately before entering bath, disperse. Can be mixed with 1/2 to 1 cup sesame oil or milk then poured into bath. A 1/2 ounce bottle is a perfect size for a bath blend. Add 2 or more essential oils using up to 7 or 8 drops to total to carrier oil. Pour this into tub.

Aromatic baths are excellent for skin problems, circulatory problems, respiratory symptoms, stress and nervous tension, insomnia, muscular and menstrual pains.

Caution: overuse of essential oils in the bath can cause irritation. Use only mild, non-irritating oils for bath, such as lavender and clary sage.

3) Compresses
10 drops oil in 4 oz hot water, soak cloth, wrap. Good for bruises, wounds, muscular aches and pains, dysmenorrhea, skin problems.

4) Facial steam
1 – 5 drops on hot water in a pot, cover head with a towel, steam face. Excellent for opening sinuses, headaches, skin treatment.

5) Massage
Pure essential oils are about 70 times more concentrated than the whole plant.
Dilutions are typically 2% – 10%. For adults, a 2.5% dilution is recommended for most purposes. For children under 12, 1% is generally safe.

A 2.5% blend for a 1 ounce bottle of carrier oil is 15 drops of essential oil.
1% = 6 drops per oz
2% = 12
3% = 18
5% = 30
10% = 60

6) Direct Palm Inhalation
Caution: This method of use should only be done with oils that can be safely applied to the skin (see the toxicology and safety section below). Apply 1-2 drops of oil to the palms, rub together gently and inhale deeply. This is an excellent method of use for a quick and easy exposure to the anti-microbial and other therapeutic uses of essential oils.

7) Diffusers
There are various types of diffusers on the market, with different advantages and disadvantages.

Candle diffusers
Usually a heat resistant vessel for water and essential oils, and a heat resistant platform that holds the vessel over a small candle.
Advantages: very simple to use; provides light background fragrancing
Disadvantages: does not produce strong concentration for therapeutic benefits.
Electric heat diffusers
Small absorbent pads are placed inside of a heating chamber with ventilation that allows the aromatic compounds to evaporate into the surrounding air.
Advantages: easy to use; minimal maintenance; can diffuse thicker oils.
Disadvantages: heat damages some aromatic compounds.

Cool air nebulizing diffusers
A system that uses air pressure generated by a compressing unit to vaporize the essential oils. A glass nebulizing bulb serves as a condenser, allowing only the finest particles of the essential oil to escape into the air.
Advantages: strong diffusion maximizes therapeutic benefits in respiratory conditions.
Disadvantages: diffusers need to be cleaned regularly, and tend to clog. More viscous oils cannot be diffused (such as sandalwood or ylang ylang).

Timers
Electric heat and cool air nebulizers can be purchased with timers, to produce intermittent diffusion. This reduces the amount of oil consumed, and prevents over-saturation in a room.

Other methods
Adding essential oils to room humidifiers
Essential oil rings places on light bulbs

Interview with David Crow on Open Mind Radio

www.floracopeia.com

I always come back from meeting of RISE completely pumped about the profession I’m in and the industry in which I work. It always reminds me that there are people who wake up every day dedicated to keeping the proper chemical tools in your hands so you can do your jobs effectively. This year, as a member of the Programs and Membership Committee, I was honored and humbled to be the master of ceremonies for the conference’s opening session, and the quality of speakers there and the agenda RISE has for the future was impressive. Here are some thoughts and notes from what I saw on the conference’s opening day:

• I was glad that I wasn’t the only company with direct pest management front-line links. And they hosted a wonderful reception on the opening night – well done for one of RISE’s newest associate members. It was a great introduction to the group.
• Steve Burt is still one of the most engaging, funny people in the industry. He’s got a warm, infectious laugh and shares great stories. Thanks for a great evening – and it was good to see you again (and to meet Tom Wells as well).
• Listening to Allen James discuss the industry is like sipping a mint julep sitting on a wraparound porch in Savannah, Ga. in July. But when he says we’re fighting in a “righteous cause” against environmental activists, you want to jump out of your chair and shout, “Amen.”
• James, Josh Weeks of Bayer Environmental Sciences and Dan Rosenbaum of FMC Corp. made believers out of the attendees as they unveiled their agenda for the next year. The refrain was something I’ve been preaching for at least two years – get out in front on the green issue or be swept aside. These three heavy hitters (and many of the attendees) get it. Look for RISE to be a player on this issue in the near future.
• Poor Steve Gullikson of MGK – the goofy moderator started reading his speech for him when it was his time to welcome new members to the group. Sorry about that, Steve – and watch out for narrow stages. They can be killer.
• I’m also glad Brenda Gillinson, the tireless Director of Programs & Member Services at RISE, has a sense of humor. I know I tested it sorely myself – and I was only there for 1.5 days.
• If anyone knows more about legislative affairs that John McCaulley and Rick Bell (see related post), it’s this guy, who brought RISE members up to speed on what he thinks may happen after Nov. 4 and beyond. All three of them, however, are not looking on the future with hope of a utopia for RISE members. They see a tough road ahead no matter who is elected, so it’s time for our industry to join our manufacturing partners in their fights. You’re the eyes and ears out there, PMPs – get involved in the grassroots efforts.
• But the man who brought the house down was keynote speaker who talked about creating passionate, thinking, pure-performance organizations. He had a lot of great tips for how to get your employees to buy into your project and get them working for you at all times. We will have a clip of his presentation up at PMPtv at some point, but the long line waiting to talk to him afterward – filled with some pretty powerful people themselves (see here, here and here.)

In fact, it was had to take my leave of this organization’s conference, where their passion and commitment are evident in everything they do. I’m glad to be an active member and am looking forward to increasing my participation in future years.

Encontrei referência sobre o grande mestre da Thai Yoga Massagem, Jivaka Kumar Baccha, no livro do David Crow. Literatura preciosa que narra a experiência desse acupunturista e herbologista nos Himalaias estudando Medicina Ayurvédica e Tibetana.

“Uma das primeiras coisas que o aluno da medicina tibetana aprende”, disse o dr. Chopel, “é que tudo o que existe no mundo é potencialmente curativo. Aprendemos a ver o mundo como a mandala do Buda da Medicina. Não existe nada que não possa ser preparado ou purificado numa substância com valor medicinal.” O doutor contou então a história de Jivaka, um dos maiores médicos da antiguidade na Índia e que cuidou do Buda e da sua sangha.
“Quando ainda jovem, Jivaka era muito estimado pelo seu mestre e pelos colegas. Nada estava além da sua capacidade para memorizar e compreender; sua dedicação ao estudo, seus conhecimentos eram insuperáveis. Um dia o mestre resolvei pô-lo à prova. Reuniu seus quatro discípulos dizendo: “Tragam-me qualquer coisa que não tenha o poder de curar.”
“Passados uns dias, o primeiro discípulo regressou com uma planta desconhecida.“Encontrei esta planta que parece não ter propriedades curativas”, disse. O mestre cheirou-a, saboreou-a e depois mostrou como extrair suas propriedades curativas.
“Uma semana depois, o segundo discípulo voltou com a carcaça de um bicho.“Trouxe essa carcaça fedida porque parece inútil”, disse. O mestre mostrou ao discípulo como, através do cozimento, podiam ser extraídas as suas propriedades curativas.
“Na semana seguinte, voltou o terceiro discípulo com uma pedra.“Encontrei essa pedra que creio não ter propriedades curativas”, disse ele. O mestre ensinou-lhe técnicas alquímicas que transformavam pedras e minérios em elixires curativos.
“Passado muito tempo, Jivaka voltou de mãos abanando.“Procurei por toda parte”, disse ele, “e não encontrei o que quer que fosse que não possuísse propriedades curativas.”
Foi assim que Jivaka demonstrou a sua elevada capacidade de compreensão.”

Extraído do livro “Em Busca do Buda da Medicina – Uma jornada no Himalaia” de David Crow. Ed Pensamento.

Convergence: Interactive Marketing Channels
Moderator: David Crow, Microsoft
Panelist: Ryan Anderson, Fuel Industries
Panelist: Todd Henwood, Publicis Modem
Panelist: Jon Lax, Teehan & Lax
Friday, March 28 – 1:15pm

One of the major things that came out of this session was a simple learning: in a rapidly-converging digital world, relying strictly on quantifiable data for measuring the success of an online marketing campaign is incredibly difficult.

When trying to gauge the value of interactive marketing, the panel tersely said that “ROI is BS,” and that when you speculate on quantifiable brand value created by a campaign, “you’re making shit up.” You can’t use cause and effect relationships in online activities.

Because we are in the early days of social media, it is almost impossible to give specific metrics based on historical data. Instead, the emphasis is on conversation: by creating good relationships, you are creating value that you really can’t measure. “Innovation only occurs when the marketing executive is willing to put their job on the line. They need to believe that it’s the right thing to do, rather than relying on data.”

One of the questions brought up by the audience during the session was the fact that several clients can easily see the value in television and print campaigns, but can’t quantify the value of online marketing. Why then should they invest in online marketing?

Lee Dale, President of Smack Inc, shared some thoughts on that question with me and allowed me to share them here on the blog:

Why advertise online when TV works just great? Well, there’s a great question. I wouldn’t have considered asking such a preposterous question in 2008, but hey, not one but two people threw that one out to the interactive panel moderated by David Crow, lounging stage left in tie and muted red vest.

So, how does Jon Lax respond to such inanity? Well, in kind of course: you have to have faith, an innate trust in what you’re doing online, because there’s no way I can offer ROI.

While I can’t even fathom people suggesting that they won’t spend on online media because they’re happy with the ROI on their TV spends, the fact that we had 15 minutes of preaching faith in online from Jon completely undermines the medium.

As a content and interactive producer, this is particularly frustrating, but not nearly as much as how infuriating it is for the tax payer me to hear a government marketing manager say: “Well, I’m not going to bother spending online because TV brings such value. I know because when we run a campaign we it gets a lot of press.”

What the f**k? You’re spending millions on TV to get press?!?!

Has no one here ever heard of an integrated campaign? There’s a reason that there are great PR and interactive agencies. Because, done right, and worked into a good mix of media buying, over time and across media, the value of your spend increases; you don’t blow wads of cash on TV in order to get press, or do an inclusive online campaign that doesn’t connect with your campaign across other media – you find the right balance, within budget, to get your message out to your target as effectively and efficiently as possible.

It’s no wonder it’s difficult selling 2008 integrated strategies and community strategies to companies when a whole segment of leaders in the industry and marketing managers don’t understand the basic tenets of advertising, established well prior to this strange beast we call the internet and as applicable today as ever – spend right, and you’ll find your ROI.

Well said Lee, well said.

Photos by Rannie Turingan.

Says David Crow: “We’re at the place where you eat when you love freedom.”

Hi, welcome to Bootup Labs!

Who: Boris Mann and Danny Robinson

What: an incubator, a company that helps startups get started (for now, in the Vancouver area). We could say kind of like Y-Combinator or sort of like the Founders Fund, just to start getting your head into the right space. We’re not a fund, but we do want to help you quit your day job. The web, mobile, and casual gaming are three of the main areas we’ll be focusing on.

Where: 350 – 375 Water Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada – right down in Gastown

When: now. This is it. We’re booting up. What’s amazing to us again was that picking the name was the hardest part. Lucky for us “bootup labs” was actually a Google Whack – that kind of sealed the deal. A few hours later, we’ve got Google Apps running everything from email to calendars, and this blog up and running in moments with WordPress.com. Now all we need is a place where we can crowd source a logo.

It feels like we’re getting started at exactly the right time. In just the last couple of weeks, we’ve noticed lots of relevant blog posts come bubbling up that are in line with our thinking. As the last year closed, Mark Evans figures we needs a Peter Thiel in Canada. David Crow batted that back, asking if money was really all we are lacking here in Canada.

David’s been doing lots of relevant blogging, like this one on seed stage financing in Canada – but that should come as no surprise: he and I often seem to share a brain, we just haven’t figured out which one is the evil twin yet. Oh yes, and you should definitely plan to go to the Founders and Funders dinner that David is organizing January 21st in Toronto.

We’ll be talking more about what we see as our value proposition to, well, founders and funders, in upcoming posts. We’re aiming to set up an environment where many more startup companies can flourish in Vancouver.

Welcome to Bootup Labs. Stop by our offices the next time you’re in town – we’d love to talk to you if you’re a founder, a funder, or want to get involved in some other way.

I’ve never copied anything into my blog verbatim so I really want to reference the source on this one……so for the absence of doubt what follows is taken entirely from The Business, and was authored by David Crow (Not me). It is a great piece, and I think you should read it.

———————————————————————————

It is hard to overstate the changes that took place in the media in 2007. In Europe, this was the first ever year that 16-24 year olds – the consumers behind today’s technological revolution – accessed the internet more frequently than they watched TV. Now, nearly eight years into the millennium, even the heretics who dismissed the internet as a flash in the pan are realising just how wrong they were.

While 2008 will be a year of flux, some things are unlikely to change. Circulation figures for daily paid-for newspapers will continue to dip, with the odd exception; the best editors will be the ones who adopt a two pronged approach of managing the decline in print sales – instead of trying to avert it – while investing more and more resources in their digital operations.

The Daily Mail – one of the few papers to post a year-on-year increase in November’s ABC figures – will continue to be the envy of all on Fleet Street. Last month’s assurance by editor Paul Dacre, 60 next year, that he has no plans to step down came as a relief to shareholders; it is hard to imagine the paper reading the mood of modern Britain so expertly without him. In 2008, the title will build on its newfound digital success after it hit the ground running earlier this year.

Sunday titles will continue to fare better than their daily counterparts in 2008. The Observer – which reported a 1.41% year-on-year increase in November’s ABCs – is testament to the fact that the peculiar British relationship with Sunday newspapers will remain strong. All eyes will be on how its integration with The Guardian goes, however.

Daily freesheets will be one of the few print products to see increasing revenues in 2008. Metro, owned by Associated Newspapers, is likely to be the star of the sector; its combined regional distribution – currently at around 1.4m – will continue to rise and, at some point in 2008, overtake the Daily Mirror’s circulation.

The latter, along with nearly every other daily and Sunday red top – with the inexplicable exception of the Daily Star titles – will watch The Sun continue to demonstrate that it is possible to build a successful red top brand online and in print. Hopes that the Mirror will be able to follow suit are fading.

Across the pond, staff at the Wall Street Journal will realise that Rupert Murdoch’s plans to turn the title into a global power brand can only benefit the newspaper. Media coverage of the presidential election – like Australia’s recent vote – will be increasingly defined by web giant Google, which will come into direct competition with newspapers and broadcasters by reporting the contest first hand.

DAB digital radio will continue its march to become Britain’s preferred radio platform. By the end of 2008, 30% of households will own a DAB radio, with sales rising by 26% to 2.6m units worth £200m. 4 Digital – the consortium behind the 10 new digital radio stations that will launch next year – is hoping to open up digital radio in the way Channel 4 boosted the fortunes of digital Freeview TV.

The new stations will provide some much needed competition to the BBC. E4 radio, which will focus on the youth market, will go head to head with Radio 1 while Channel 4 Radio – a contemporary speech station with what the consortium call “public service values” will provide an alternative to BBC Radio 4. Earlier this month 4Digital poached the controller of BBC Radio 5 Live, suggesting it is serious about taking on the Beeb. BBC radio stations account for 54% of all radio listening and a massive 86% of speech-based listening; 2008 will be the year that this starts to change.

For established broadcasters, next year will be one of unlikely alliances, formed in an attempt to see off the growing threat from new competitors. The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 will launch a joint on-demand service, enabling customers to download content from all three broadcasters on one platform. The trio hope that the on-demand service – codenamed Kangaroo – will provide an alternative to Sky+ and Virgin On Demand.

In America, Murdoch’s NewsCorp and NBC Universal will officially launch their joint internet TV effort, Hulu, a website hosting popular shows such as Saturday Night Live and Journeyman alongside user-generated clips. Google’s YouTube will continue to be the product to beat.

In 2007, social networking sites finally reached the tipping point, becoming truly mainstream for the first time. In 2008, they will be increasingly counted alongside TV, newspapers, magazines and radio as the fifth staple of the consumer’s media diet.

Facebook will continue to be the social network to beat, although top-dog status will bring new woes. Mark Zuckerberg, its founder and chief executive – once the poster-boy for the Facebook generation – is fast becoming a scapegoat for the increasing panic over social networking and privacy. Having bungled its attempts to reassure customers over their concerns, Facebook will have to get better at managing its success.

The firms that succeed in 2008 will be those that focus on the needs, desires and interests of their consumer in the contemporary marketplace – and discard their archaic, elitist prejudices born of a different era. For those still referred to as the “traditional” media, 2008 will be the make or break year.

MAC , 20 de abril 2007, 18h

Palestra e lançamento de livro : “Em busca do Buda da Medicina”,

por David Crow: escritor, professor, herbologista e ambientalista americano.

Com apresentação do Vídeo “The Learnig Gardens”.

Mais eventos em: http://www.dpmais.com.br/davidcrow/

Louvável o esforço do David Crow em fomentar a idéia de jardins nas cidades como forma de cura, reconexão com a natureza e mudança de paradigmas alimentares e de percepção[1]. A apresentação em DVD da experiência (mal) filmada por ele mesmo, sobre o jardim comestível criado em 2001 junto com a homeopata Julie Mann, em uma escola em Venice, Califórnia foi interessante. Estórias assim são gratificantes. Mesmo que, depois de anos de projeto, ainda vejamos alunos extremamente obesos aparecendo no vídeo.

Mas faltou um “Q” qualquer durante sua exposição…. Ele deseja fazer aqui, jardins de ervas medicinais de outra parte do mundo? Isso não ficou claro.

A idéia “criativa” dele procede, mas ele não foi o primeiro (como ele quase fez parecer) e nem será o ultimo a difundir projetos deste quilate. Assim como “The Learning Gardens”, existem muitas idéias parecidas pelo mundo e algumas muito anteriores ao projeto que ele começou a formular há 10 anos[2].

Outra incorreção cometida por David Crow é achar que a medicina de lá serve para o mundo todo.

Ele fala de difundir o conhecimento das plantas do Tibete e Índia, pois elas estão desaparecendo pela extração desenfreada (q ele mesmo ajudou a promover em 20 anos de consultório terapêutico!) e elas são muito importantes para a “saúde do planeta”.

Nada contra a maravilhosa cultura budista e hindu, mas se ele dissesse que deveríamos buscar conhecer, plantar, se alimentar e se curar através de nossa própria cultura e diversidade eu iria aplaudi-lo de pé…. pena que não foi bem assim. Todo o conhecimento que ele tem das plantas da medicina ayurveda não se comparam diante do conhecimento que nossos nativos erveiros têm de nossa própria medicina da terra. Além do mais, espero que ele não tenha se esquecido de uma ética básica: a diversidade e a cultura de cada lugar deve ser respeitada e plantas exóticas também se tornam um problema ecológico!

Ele fala orgulhoso de seus 20 anos de consultório, onde prescrevia ‘medicinas’. Levou tanto tempo assim para ser crítico em relação à sua posição de ‘devastador de plantas’? Comenta com ênfase orgástico o fato de ter conseguido receber 50 mil dólares de uma senhora abastada, sem precisar se explicar muito sobre como e porque o dinheiro seria utilizado pra fazer a tal horta na escola (dinheiro q dava pra muitas hortas!). E fala orgulhosamente de sua teoria (um tanto capenga para alguém que diz que estudou medicina chinesa) para ‘entender’ o porquê das doenças do ser humano moderno. Considero melhor outras teorias difundidas por aí.

Mas não sejamos tão duros com ele. De qq forma a experiência de participar do evento foi válida para reconhecermos nele um batalhador positivo, alguém desprendido que quer difundir técnicas ‘salvadoras’ abnegadamente…… Pena que seus eventos, promovidos pelo país todo, (entre jantares de 50 pratas e palestras de 3 h à 120 reais) sejam tão rasos e custem tanto. Inclusive palestras são cobradas em locais como o Teatro Popular Oscar Niemayer e o Hospital Municipal Carlos Tortelli, em Niterói, com apoiadores como prefeitura e órgãos públicos, onde a estrutura, a funcionalidade ou mesmo o objetivo não permitiriam tal cobrança.

Mas, diante do capitalismo e tanta ‘blasfêmia” pseudo libertadora q vemos por aí, deveríamos dar crédito ao menos pior?

Pra quem ainda quer ver de perto o esguio e bem afeiçoado quarentão gringo, aguarde o evento desta quinta-feira, dia 17/05, no Centro Lótus da Rua 2 Dezembro, 78/305, no Catete e avalie por si mesmo. Eu estarei lá, nem que seja pra tentar ler algumas páginas do seu livro!

http://www.vedicsociety.org/the-learning-garden-a-251.html?osCsid=eb95a880a97199f07b0c88c894b099bc

[2]Jardins de flores curativas como os do Dr. Bach na déc de 40 e as Hortas orgânicas de Lawrence Hills na dec. de 50  por exemplo (vide: http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/about_us/history.php) estão aí para provar.

Outro belo exemplo (e visível do satélite) é o Jardim Orgânico de Ryton, Reino unido: http://www.sargacal.com/2007/04/18/o-turista-espacial-garden-organic-ryton-reino-unido/

Pra não dizer que o Brasil é pobre de ‘exemplos gratificantes’, um projeto de hortas (embora não orgânicas!) em terrenos baldios foi feita em Campos na década de 80, por ninguém menos que o nosso Garotinho!

Outros projetos mais recentes que merecem destaque: o ‘Hortas Comunitárias’ no Rio, desde 2001; o projeto de Horta Comunitária da Cáritas, desde 2002; outro chamado ‘Gincana da Cidadania’, realizado em SP, tb desde 2002; um que funciona desde 2003 na Escola Estadual Professora Fleurides C. Menechino, em Adamantina, interior de São Paulo e o HORTA BRASIL, no sul do país, desde 2005. Estas e muitas outras atitudes anônimas, (das quais provavelmente nunca ouviremos falar na ‘Globo’) acontecem por este Brasilzão.