April 29, 2008

Blogger Survey - Helping PR companies engage

The folks at Text100, a PR company that specialises in technology, want to know how bloggers preferred to be contacted and informed; so they've put together an online survey to ask for your feedback. The English version is here and the Chinese (Traditional characters) is here.

Neither Web Wednesday nor Palava Digital has a commercial relationship or financial incentive to participate. However, we believe that it is in the interests of the local blogging community to participate as it is an open invite to give them our honest feedback. Besides, the more we are listened to, the more clout we will have!

April 28, 2008

Mobile Monday Tonight - Digital Habits of Asian Youth

Another digital community - this time about all things cellular - and fellow fan of alliteration, Mobile Monday, is running an interesting event about, "Young Asians: Understanding the lifestyle, motivations and digital habits of today’s youth". The event kicks off at 6:30 p.m. tonight at FINDS, 2/F Lan Kwai Fong Tower, 33 Wyndham St, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong.

It's run by the Hong Kong Chapter of Mobile Monday, which calls itself "a global community of mobile industry visionaries, developers and influentials..." and was originally set up in Helsinki in 2000.
There are a few more details on tonight's event here.

But basically, Synovate's Director of Media Research, Craig Harvey, will give an entertaining and highly informative speech (I've seen him present!) on what young people are doing on the Net (mobile and fixed), how they access and share content, and how it varies country by country across Asia. And then there will be a panel, moderated by John Tannner, Global Technology Editor for
Telecom Asia.

I knew we were busy bees in Asia, but according to Synovate's survey, young Asians fit 38 hours of activities into one day (but still manage eight hours sleep!). If you can't make it, here are links to extracts of results for Hong Kong and Singapore.

April 25, 2008

Dream Bash: 3-in-1 Charity Fund Raiser

The multi-talented team of Culture Fish Media are on another mission; not as impossible as it would initially seem.

This time it's to raise for awareness and money for two charities by running three events in one day!
Held at Mission Hills Golf Club on Friday 23rd May, the "One in a Million Dream Bash" tees off with a golf tournament, where you can win HKD 1 Million if you nail a whole-in-one, break for a slap-up lunch (to celebrate your takings!), head to the digital media workshop in the afternoon and round off the day bopping to the R&B sounds of up-and-coming singer, Che'nelle.If you're a member of Web Wednesday's group on Facebook, you can enjoy a cool 50% off the workshop which normally costs HKD2,000 and RMB 100 off the party, which puts you back RMB300.

You can sign up for the event here or simply donate, if you can't go. Charity funds will be donated to two great causes, The Library Project and The Reading Tub.






Q97 - A New Venue for Web Wednesday's Social Mixers

Due to the ever-growing crowd of 100 plus Asian digerati who attend Web Wednesday's monthly social gatherings, we've outgrown our previous hosts at Lotus Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge. So from 7th May 2008, we will be moving our networking events to the newly launched Q97 in the basement of California Tower in the heart of Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong's central party area.
The drinks will be on a cash bar basis at Happy Hour prices and if you download the coupon from m.webwednesday.hk to your mobile phone, you will enjoy a complimentary welcome drink when you present it at the door; Q97's staff will exchange a paper coupon for your digital one.

For the moment, the Q97 website doesn't say much but, if you're curious, you can join their group on Facebook and be kept in the loop for upcoming parties.

Q97 has a closed off area for those who just want to chat at the bar and a large room for those who wish to listen to the speaker. Hopefully, this means that I can spend less time finding creative (and polite ways) to tell people to "pipe down".

Webby Awards - Vote for Hong Kong

With all this fervent patriotism bubbling around us, here's a channel to funnel your passion for the internet and Hong Kong.
Visit the 12th Annual Webby Awards - People's Voice website and vote for 'Believe in Creativity' to win under the 'Best Associations Website of 2008'. Voting closes on 1st May and the winners will be announced on 6th May at a star-studded gala in New York City on
June 10th. So get voting!

As you can see from the screenshot below, the site is a cheeky take on preachers (after all, most ad execs can't stop preaching the god-like qualities of 'The Brand'!) and was created for the Kam Fan Awards, an annual event run under the auspices of The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Hong Kong (formally known as "The 4As").



The Flash site was created by McCann Erickson Hong Kong who are happily surprised that it has been nominated as one of the top five for its category. As Thierry
Halbroth, Senior Creative Director of McCann Erickson’s Cathay Pacific Central Team put it, “This is a totally unexpected piece of news that’s taken the whole team behind the campaign by surprise. We are so excited and honored by it...This is the perfect boost the local advertising industry needed, and I sincerely hope it marks Hong Kong’s resurgence of its legitimate place on the worldwide creative charts. We’ve always believed in Hong Kong’s creative firepower and are proud to be part of it.”

You can fully experience the site for yourself here. I like the
opening screen where your mouse becomes "the guiding light" on a darkened page. Upon entering, the "Hand of God" replaces the candle light and religious music, interspersed with preacher's quotes, draws you into various witty scenes that you can download as desktop wallpaper (music not included, unfortunately).

Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile Websites. You can view current nominees and past winners on this site.

April 8, 2008

Event reminder: Social Mixer V11.0 tomorrow night

Calling all Asian Digerati!

We're looking good for tomorrow's Social Mixer (V11.0) with 90 confirmed guests and 89 maybes on our Facebook invite.

Here's a gentle reminder to join the premier internet industry networking event in Hong Kong. Either sign up for the event invite here or just drop by tomorrow (Wednesday 9th April), starting from 6pm at Lotus Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge, 37 Pottinger St, Central, Hong Kong.

We've only had 20 entries for the SMS contest the chances are still high for you to win HK$40,000 worth of ad space on TVB.com! Be brave, take a gamble and send "ww quiz" via SMS to "508507". It'll only cost you a few dollars!

明天见!