January 22, 2009

Web Wednesday - Social Mixer V21 (Feb 4)

Calling Hong Kong Digerati,

Happy Chinese New Year of the Earth Ox!

As Valentine's Day will be round the corner, we'll be talking about "How to Market to Women Online?" with Derek Yeung, CEO of She.com, a top fashion channel in Hong Kong.


The night kicks off at 6:30pm and ends around 9:30pm, so you'll have plenty of opportunity to mix with the movers and shakers of our local internet industry.

Although the last event was packed, with over 170 guests, we are going to stick with the same venue for this month as I'll need time to confirm a new place. (Thank you for all the helpful recommendations so far, we've got some great options).

It's a new year so we're going to try something new...

There will be a door charge of HK$100, unless you're a bona-fide student, in which case it's HK$50.

Do invite your friends and colleagues to join the Asian Digerati on Wednesday 4th February at Q97, Basement, California Tower, Lan Kwai Fong.

You can sign up on Facebook here or just turn up on the night.

Looking forward to seeing old faces and meeting many more new ones,

Napoleon Biggs
Founder & Host - Web Wednesday
Digital Media Consultant & Executive Coach - Palava Digital Ltd

January 20, 2009

Yat Siu sells Outblaze Messaging to IBM

Congratulations (恭喜恭喜) to Yat Siu for successfully selling Outblaze's email messaging service to the Big Blue, IBM! Read the official press announcement.

Outblaze's 40 million email accounts and private label email software will help boost Lotus Live, IBM's social networking and online collaboration platform. I believe this is the evolution of the once pervasive (and forward-thinking) Lotus Notes.

Yat will retain the Outblaze brand and the remaining company assets, which include social media and other online community building tools. A few words from the serial entrepreneur, "We are very excited about the deal with IBM, in which IBM will purchase Outblaze's e-mail business. IBM has the vision, network, and capability to take the business to previously unattainable heights. The transaction has strategic relevance for both companies because Outblaze and IBM will form a partnership to continue servicing the messaging needs of our customers. This in turn will allow Outblaze to dedicate more of our efforts to areas beyond messaging, including social media as well as new web and media development".

As a pro-active corporate member of the internet community in Hong Kong, apart from training many engineers who've gone on to start their own businesses, Outblaze has been a faithful long-term sponsor of Web Wednesday and Barcamp Hong Kong. We thank them for their support!

Yat was also one of Web Wednesday's first guest speakers, back in November 2007.