February 28, 2011

Unified under Facebook

Woke up this morning with my son pulling on my ear and an invite to sign up for Facebook Messages, their new integrated offering. Not sure which hurt more!


So far, I like the automatic filtering of messages into those from friends (called "Messages") and uninvited stuff (called "Other"). Signed up for their email address but not sure how I'm going to have the time to manage yet another webmail account. Guess the swollen ear will go down eventually too!

Funny thing was that an ad for gmail popped up when I searched on Google!

February 24, 2011

Facebook rules!

Ever wondered what people spend their time doing on Facebook? This nifty little video shares the numbers. When will they share the psychographics?

Groupon Hong Kong: Discounted Road to Riches

Calling all budding internet entrepreneurs!

Originated in China, the group buying(团购)phenomenon has taken the world by storm. After just three years in business, the dominant global player, Groupon, recently raised US$950M for a valuation of $4.7bn!

On Wednesday 2nd March, I'll be interviewing Danny Yeung, the co-founder and CEO of uBuyiBuy, which he set up in March 2010 and sold to to Groupon nine months later for a princely sum.... Such rapid success has led Danny to become the inspiration for many a local start-up. Now he wants to share his experiences with you.

The event will start at 6:30pm and wind up around 9:30pm, with the talk/interview starting at 7:15pm. Sign up on Facebook or this blog.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink and the chance to win lucky draw prizes, including free coupons from Groupon HK.

Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices. 10% of entrance fees will be donated to Oxfam Hong Kong.

Looking forward to meeting many new faces. Let's see if we can beat last month's record of 290 digerati!

February 9, 2011

Fun prizes from Siliconcept

From the surge of confirmations on Facebook and via Social Media Week, looks like we have over 200 guests expected for Web Wednesday this month (see event details here). Who would have guessed that a speaker from Facebook could pull in the crowds?!

And to add to all the merriment, we've just had a last minute sponsorship confirmation from Siliconcept, who will generously provide a welcome gift for all paying attendees (up to 200 of you) - a Funky silicon Wire Manager. As you can see from the images below, these cable winders come in all shapes and sizes.


That's not all. Siliconcept, a Hong Kong born and bred start-up, is also sponsoring prizes for the lucky draw:

3rd prize: 2 packs of Eco Memos (non-toxic, reusable memo pads):

2nd Prize: 1 pack of Eco Memos + 1 set of Melosphere (handy ball) speakers:

1st prize: 1 box set of 7 Wisdomaze iPhone 4 silicon cases ("a phone case embedded with wisdom and fun"):

So do drop by their website (siliconcept.hk), become a fan on Facebook and help them spread the word of silicon!

February 6, 2011

Facebook meets Web Wednesday in Hong Kong

Happy Chinese New Year! 新春福兔送吉祥!

We're kicking off the Year of the Rabbit by burrowing deep into the heart of social networking, an interview with Trevor Johnson, Head of Planning & Strategy, Emerging Markets for Facebook. Sign up for the event on Facebook or Social Media Week.


Trevor has flown in from London to be part of Social Media Week and is keen to meet with the local Hong Kong Digerati. You can chose to "Like" Trevor on his Page (Facebook.com/trevor), follow him on Twitter (@uktrevor) or come to meet the man in person at our next social mixer on Wednesday 9th February, 2011 at Volar, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong.


Given all the recent developments at Facebook - Places, Deals, new Asian ad sales team, Middle Eastern political turmoil - there will be plenty for us to talk about!

The event will start at 6:30pm and wind up around 9:30pm, with the talk/interview starting at 7:15pm.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink and the chance to win lucky draw prizes.

Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices. 10% of entrance fees will be donated to Oxfam Hong Kong.

Looking forward to learning more about the inside story!