Web Wednesday Hong Kong - Social Mixer V32.0 (Jan 6)

Happy New Year! May all your virtual 3D dreams come true!

We've had some great speakers over the last year, including star appearances from Guy Kawasaki and Matt Mullenweg. And let's not forget our local talented artists from Lumina, the Web Series!

In 2010, we'll continue to bring you a wide range of speakers to illustrate the amazing variety of activities that people conduct on the Internet.
We're kicking off the new year full of hope by talking about "How to become an eBay Millionaire?" with Benjamin Mark Wee, also known as "That eBay Guy", the Singaporean entrepreneur who successfully broke down barriers between online and offline retail, and made wads of money from doing so. Apart from tapping into his experience with eBay, we're going to find out where ecommerce is thriving in Asia and what his predictions are for the future direction of online shopping, like mobile payments etc.


As the last mixer was so cosy, we'll stick to our new venue at Backstage Live, 1/F Somptueux Central, 52-54 Wellington Street, Central (just up the road from the famous Yung Kee Restaurant).

They continue to offer a special price of HK$40 per standard drink and they are offering 2 Free Admission Tickets to their live music shows (regular-price of HK$180 per ticket) as one of the lucky draw prizes.

The mixer will kick off at 6:30pm and wind up around 9:30pm, with the interview at 7:15ish. If we're lucky, Backstage might even have a live band perform later that night.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink. 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 a special discount of HK$40 each.

We will donate 10% of entrance fees to Oxfam's Unwrapped Gift Campaign, providing sheep and goats to poor farmers in China. Send your own goat.

It's the first Web Wednesday networking event of the year, so do come along and bring a new friend who's been curious but has never quite made it. Sign up Facebook or this blog. If you want the event added to your calendar, then click here.

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

Start 2010 Alive!

The coolest dotcom in town, AliveNotDead, has asked us to help promote their New Year's Eve Party. The founders, Patrick Lee and Stephen Wang, spoke at Web Wednesday V22.0 (watch the interview) so we're happy to help them recruit more digerati to attend what is sure to be a collection of Hong Kong's most interesting up-and-coming talent!

The event has an all-star lineup of world class DJs, including actor and fashion icon Sam Lee (aka DJ Becareful (YouTube video), DJ Miss Yellow (YouTube channel), Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy co-founder DJ Enso (YouTube video) and World DMC finalist DJ Noodles from Taiwan (YouTube Channel).

Here's Noodles in action!

Sign up on Facebook and buy your tickets here. There is a private VIP party with dinner for HK$1,500 or entry to the countdown party is HK$250 in advance, HK$300 at the door, and HK$200 after 1am and includes 1 free drink.

Forget Facebook, get Face-2-Face!

One of my goals for Web Wednesday, since the outset in June 2007, has been to promote local entrepreneurs, especially if there is a digital element to their business. Apart from running the premier networking community for Hong Kong's digerati, now widely know as "Web Wednesday", I'm also actively involved in promoting grass-roots entrepreneurship through annual events like Barcamp Hong Kong (barcamp.hk) and communities like the Hong Kong Startup Association (hksua.com.hk).

And now, one of my firm's clients, British Airways has come along to offer travel grants worth HK$11 million to 30 small to medium sized businesses in Hong Kong. Simply apply online by clicking on the banner below (or on the button on this blog's sidebar on the right).

This will lead you to BA's grant microsite, where the full terms are listed. Note that the application closes at 11:59pm on 15th January 2010 and is only eligible to companies that employee less than 150 people. If you are selected, your company will get "10 return business class flights to be used in Club Europe and/or Club World between 1 March 2010 and 28 February 2011".

Note from the screenshot below that the site also has icon prompts (using AddThis) to share the offer via Delicious, Twitter, StumbleUpon and, their poor cousin, Facebook!

Full disclosure: British Airways is a client of Fleishman-Hillard, where I lead the digital integration team for Asia. I am not receiving any direct compensation for this post. In fact, I strongly believe in activities like this where commercial entities set up grants as a means of giving back to the community, even if it is a form of marketing.

Ending the Year Backstage

Dear Digeratus,

Nicely packed networking session at Web Wednesday HK (V31.0) last night with 120+ guests at our new venue, Backstage Live.

My thanks to those of you who came and listened respectfully to Joanne Ooi (twitter.com/joanneooi), Founder of the Clean Air Network (http://hongkongcan.org/). Joanne appreciated the chance to share her experiences building her worthy (if not, slightly scary) cause via social media and told me that she had "made some great connections last night".

Apologies for last minute cancellation from Admob. Guess you don't want to put a step wrong when the princely sum of US$750M is on the table! Christian Cadeo has promised to make an appearance in Feb or March 2010. He owes us BIG!

Our next mixer is set for Wednesday 6th January and I'm busy locking down one of eBay's biggest power sellers in the Asia Pacific region.

Until we next meet, have a refreshingly human holiday break and promise me you'll disconnect for at least one day. It's good for the soul!

Thanks for all your support through 2009! We're looking forward for an even more socially connected 2010.

Napoleon Biggs
Founder & Host - Web Wednesday

Help Clean Up HK's Air!

Given the crescendo of talk about air pollution in Hong Kong, I thought that it would be fitting to invite Joanne Ooi, Founder of the Clean Air Network (www.hongkongcan.org), to Web Wednesday on 2nd December (Final Social Mixer of 2009!) to give us a few words about how her environmental NGO is planning to "clean up HK's filthy air by educating and mobilizing the public about the health impacts of air pollution".

Here's a very powerful - and quite horrific - video that HKCAN has produced, titled "停止呼吸! Breathing Not Allowed (健康空氣行動Clean Air Network)". Not for the faint of heart! You have been warned.

Become part of the movement to clean up our local air, sign the petition now: English | Chinese.

Join the 8,000 plus activists on Facebook (facebook.com/cleanairnetwork) and follow their latest updates on Twitter (@cleanairnetwork).

Twitter Japan denies paid access

Oops! Looks like the knee jerk online media go it wrong here. Digital Garage, Twitter's partner in Japan, denied that it was offering paid access to premium accounts. But, I agree with Asiajin who says that DG are trying out all kinds of Twitter add-ons at arm's length (so as not
to annoy Twitter US.

[Update: 1st Dec 2009] Joi Ito, the Founder of Digital Garage, has responded on his blog that this was "a misunderstood presentation by a DG subsidiary, DG Mobile, about potential business opportunities that it could explore as a third party".

Final Social Mixer of 2009: Wednesday 2nd December

Calling All HK Digerati!

Just a short note to let you know that we'll be holding the final Web Wednesday Social Mixer of 2009 on 2nd December (Yes, it is a Wednesday. No more moving days around!).

Our guest speaker will be Christian Cadeo, Head of Brand Advertising for AdMob, who've recently been bought by Google for US$750 million to help extend their advertising empire into the mobile realm. (Google was struggling with AdSense for mobile).

Admob has just released interactive video ads for the iPhone, which were used by Microsoft to launch Windows 7.



I'm in negotiations to get better drink pricing from Volar. If this doesn't come to fruition, then I may move the event to BackStage. More later...

See you all soon,

Napoleon Biggs
Founder & Host - Web Wednesday

Podcast: Jay Oatway, Twitter Star

The moment you've all been waiting for...the podcast of the interview with Jay Oatway, Hong Kong's top Twitter Star, recorded at Web Wednesday Hong Kong - Social Mixer V28.0.




A BIG thank you to our part-time "Multimedia Producer", Henry Oh. Somehow, he finds the time to run Socialutions, the Hong Kong Startup Association, have a good social life... and remove all the naughty bits from our podcasts!

Web Wednesday Hong Kong - Social Mixer V30.0 (Nov 6)

Thank you to the cast of "Lumina - the Web Series" for their hilarious impromptu skit and to Jennifer Thym, the writer and director, for wooing the audience with her down-to-earth smarts (see article in Media) and for proving why Hong Kong is still a hot bed of creative talent.

Our next networking event will be on FRIDAY 6th November at a NEW VENUE, Roxie (formerly, the saucy strip club "Goodfellas"), Ground Floor, No 24-30 Ice House Street, Central (just down the street from The Fringe Club and the F.C.C.).
The topic is "Ma Yin Jeo 2.0 - Secrets of Running a Successful Online Presidential Campaign" with Charles Chuang, Taiwanese Internet entrepreneur and open source social enterprise activist. Sign up on Facebook or this blog.
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 and meet some inspired political activists!

There will be an entrance fee of HK$100, unless you're a bona-fide student, in which case it's HK$50. This includes one complimentary drink. All other drinks are at Happy Hour prices. (We will issue a receipt, if you require one).

We will donate 10% of entrance fees to Habitat for Humanity's work in China.

Do invite fellow policy makers and budding online activists to join the Asian Digerati on Friday 6th November at Roxie, Ground Floor, No 24-30 Ice House Street, Central.

Lumina Skit at Web Wednesday

Witty ad-hoc skit put together in minutes by the talented cast of "Lumina - the Web Series", JuJu Chan, Michael Chan, Jacob Ziacan, and Jayson Li, MC'd by the one and only Simon Yin!

Bringing local talent to the Asian Digerati at Web Wednesday v29.0.

My favourite line, "If you want to know, lords and ladies of the digital social set, we kindly to watch Lumina on the Internet".




Here's a link to the post on Lumina's official website. Thank you again, Jen and Luminaries!

First 2 Forward - Match 5 (Oct 21st)

Web Wednesday's foray into new events for the Asian Digerati continues with First 2 Forward, the bilingual game show hosted by the multi-talented MC Hyperlink (Pictured in all his eccentric glory below!).
"What is First 2 Forward?" you may ask. MC Hyperlink tells it like this, "It's like a TV game show. It's like a creative department show n' tell. It's like nothing you've ever seen!".

Still don't get it? (I didn't at first!), "First 2 Forward is...Two top creative directors. Five rounds of competition. One event that reveals the freshest, funniest, and freakin' coolest stuff from around the Web". In Cantonese, "First 2 Forward就好像電視遊戲節目一樣，由兩位參加者進行5個回合的比賽，各人需要根據不同的要求，找出最精彩、最搞笑、最貼題的超連結即可。而首次參加比賽的2位參加者均為城中出色的廣告創意總監，且看他們哪一位能勝出首次比賽！"

Tempted? Follow First 2 Forward for the latest updates on Twitter (@first2forward) and come to Match 5 on October 21st (a Wednesday, course!) to watch James Reeves, Creative Director of McCann, battle it out against Jay Oatway (@jayoatway), Tech-Culture Trend Hunter, Digital Journalist, Social Media Evangelist and previous guest speaker at Web Wednesday Hong Kong.

We even have a groovy, bi-lingual email invite, designed by MC Hyperlink's creative crew at MRM Worldwide, that goes out to our 1,800+ members.
From this month on, First 2 Forward will be hosted at the Philia Lounge, 4 Arbuthnot Road, Central. Doors open 8:00pm. Show starts 8:30pm.

Introducing ... celebrity judge crowdsourcing! Be ready to say your piece and put up a score because MC Hyperlink will be diving into the audience to select random judges for every round.

第五回: 2009年10月21日晚上8時Philia Lounge, 中環亞畢諾道4號

AppsXchange Asia - 20% discount

The nice folks at Questex Media, who publish a wide range of B2B magazines (including Telecom Asia, Network World Asia, Computer World Hong Kong and Enterprise Innovation) and run various trade events and conferences, are offering Web Wednesday members a 20% discount off their upcoming event, AppsXchange Asia.


As you can tell from the name, this event will bring together leading lights in the mobile telecoms field to talk about the growing popularity of apps stores and to address the impact of cloud computing on mobile services and business models.

If apps are your thing and you want to rub shoulders with the mobile operators, then register here (don't forget to enter the promotion code "WEWE") to attend the two day event on 16-17th November 2009 at the J.W. Marriot Hotel in Pacific Place, Hong Kong.

[Web Wednesday is an official supporting partner of this event, alongside the Mobile Entertainment Forum, the Mobile Marketing Association, Mobile Monday, the Hong Kong Wireless Development Centre and the Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association.]

Fame and Fortune - Prizes at Web Wednesday!

Hello Future Glitterati,

We've got some fab prizes lined up for the upcoming Web Wednesday on 7th October:

1st Prize: Gift certificate for dinner at trendy new restaurant SOHO8 with either LUMINA stars JuJu Chan or Michael Chan. Gift certificate worth HKD 888, dinner with actor is priceless!

2nd Prize: A walk-on role in Lumina's next YouTube video, featuring LUMINA stars Emilie Guillot and Simon Yin.

3rd Prize: A glossy LUMINA notebook autographed by the cast.

Sign up to let us know you're coming by signing up on Facebook or LinkedIn and turn up on the night to drop your namecard and take your first step towards becoming a Web Celebrity.

Web Wednesday Hong Kong - Social Mixer V29.0 (Oct. 7)

Calling all local Digerati and Glitterati,

This month (Wednesday 7th October), we'll be bringing the glamour of Hollywood movie-making to Web Wednesday!

Our guest speaker will be Jennifer Thym (@jenthym), the writer, director and producer of "Lumina - The Web Series", Hong Kong's 1st foray into distributing and marketing a fantasy thriller via the web.


Jennifer will be joined by members of the cast (actors, videographers, musicians and producers) so don't forget your autograph books! Sign up for the event on Facebook, LinkedIn or via this blog.

LUMINA is free to view on their website (luminaseries.com) and their YouTube Channel (youtube.com/luminaseries). Being very web marketing savvy, Lumina fans can also keep updated via Twitter, Facebook or AliveNotDead. Within two weeks of launching, Jennifer had already signed a distribution deal with KoldCast.tv in the US.

Watch the latest episodes embedded here:



As Jennifer describes it: "Filmed on the RED One and starring JuJu Chan, Michael Chan and Vince Matthew Chung, LUMINA is a dark, densely woven fantasy set against the sparkling backdrop of Hong Kong. Lumina Wong (JuJu Chan) is beautiful but works far too much; although she lives in a city of millions, she still feels lonely and isolated. Late one night, Lumina has a chance encounter with Ryder Lee (Michael Chan), a handsome young man from another world that she can see in mirrors and darkened window reflections. She revels in the fantasy relationship until mirrorspy Eben Sanchez (Jacob Ziacan) comes into her life, warning her of the treacheries of the people of the Dark Realm. Soon Lumina must choose between the safety of the world she knows and the deadly allure of the unknown."

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 and meet some talented local artists!

There will be an entrance fee of HK$100, unless you're a bona-fide student, in which case it's HK$50. This includes one complimentary drink. All other drinks are at Happy Hour prices. (We will issue a receipt, if you require one).

We will donate 10% of entrance fees to Oxfam's relief work in Philipines and Vietnam in the wake of Typhoon Ketsana.

Do invite budding producers and entertainment gurus to join the Asian Digerati on Wednesday 7th October at Volar, Basement, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central.

Guy Kawasaki is the Jackie Chan of VC

It's been incredible how many people have been begging me for a recording of Guy Kawasaki's recent guest appearance at Web Wednesday in Hong Kong. I've been hit on from Twitter, email, Facebook...you name it.

So, here it is. The moment you've all been waiting for...Guy Kawasaki in action!

He spoke for two hours so Belle Liu of Beansbox had to chop her recording (filmed on a Flip video recorder) into two sections. Thanks for your help with this, Belle.

Impromptu Gathering at Web Wednesday Hong Kong - Guy Kawasaki (Part 1)



Impromptu Gathering at Web Wednesday Hong Kong - Guy Kawasaki (Part 2)



I'd like to personally thank Guy for being such a great sport and sparing two full hours of his valuable time to come and share his life experiences and quick wit with the Hong Kong Digerati!

Star Appearance: Guy Kawasaki at Web Wednesday Hong Kong

Calling all Hong Kong Digerati!

Apologies for the short notice but I've only today confirmed that we will have the pleasure of speaking with Guy Kawasaki, Start-up / Marketing / Tech / Blog / VC star, who happens to be in Hong Kong for a few days.

On Wednesday 16th September at 6:30pm, we'll meet at the usual place, Volar Bar & Club, Basement, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central. So please turn up early if you want to put your questions directly to Guy. Within half a day, we already have 100 confirmations, so please let us know you're coming by signing up on Facebook or this blog.

My friend, the ever astute Belle Liu of Beansbox says:

Definitely a must-go event! Especially if you're interested in these topics:
* Innovation and product development.
* Entrepreneurship
* Intrapreneurship
* Evangelism, sales, and marketing
* Technology trends
* Competition (how to drive your competition crazy)

Here's his official (more formal) bio:

"Guy Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. Guy is the author of nine books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College".

But I prefer the more personal way he introduces himself, under "My Real Story". Some poignant extracts that will ring true with anyone who lives in Asia:

"I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1954. My family lived in a tough part of Honolulu called Kalihi Valley. We weren’t rich, but I never felt poor-because my mother and father made many sacrifices for my sister and me. My mother was a housewife, and my father was, at various times, a fireman, real estate broker, state senator, and government official.

...After Stanford, I attended the law school at UC Davis because, like all Asian American parents, my folks wanted me to be a “doctor, lawyer, or dentist.” I only lasted one week because I couldn’t deal with the law school teachers telling me that I was crap and that they were going to remake me.

...Luckily, my Stanford roommate, Mike Boich, got me a job at Apple. When I saw what a Macintosh could do, the clouds parted and the angels started singing.

...In 1995 I returned to Apple as an Apple fellow. At the time, according to the pundits, Apple was supposed to die again. (Apple should have died about ten times in the past twenty years according to the pundits.) My job on this tour of duty was to maintain and rejuvenate the Macintosh cult.

...Currently, I’m a founding partner at Garage and co-founder of Alltop as well as a husband, father, author, speaker, and hockey addict. Alltop is an online magazine rack that I hope you’ll check out—you’ll probably enjoy Innovation.alltop, for example. I’ve also written nine books. My latest is Reality Check. You can read about my other eight books here."

More on Wikipedia and his blog. Guy also regularly tweets and has over 170,000 followers on Twitter (@guykawasaki). He humbly describes himself on his Twitter profile as "I am a firehose that answers the question: What's interesting? Co-founder of Alltop".

I've been a fan of Alltop for a while and have used the China News Page (below) for a while.

Barcamp HK 2009 - Grass Roots Internet Event

As a co-organiser of Barcamp Hong Kong (#barcamphk), I am proud to say that we successfully brought together a wide cross-section of the tech, design and start-up community for our 3rd annual unconference in Hong Kong. My tagline for this event was "dip into the grass-roots net community in Hong Kong". I should have said "dive" as we were truly consumated by the talks and all the fascinating people you get to meet at such a laid-back event.

I was going to devote time to writing a long blog post but then my fellow co-organiser, Aaron Farr (CubicleMuses.com), invited me to work from his summary. In following with true Creative Commons principles, I've provided a slightly altered ("mashed-up") version below. (Thanks, Aaron!)

This year over 300 campers attended 35 sessions on 12 September at Turner International’s beautiful offices in Quarry Bay. Topics ranged from iPhones to ethics in social media. Microsoft provided an XBox which went to the most popular presenter of the day, Kin Ko for his session on mobile gaming in China. River Ho walked away with an iPhone 3GS from Pinpoint Asia.

But prizes aside, the whole day was fantastic and left me (us all!) exhausted. This was definitely our best barcamp yet. Read on for links, photos, and notes from the day.

Google Wave

Aaron did a packed session on Google Wave, for which I got to play around with live! For those who want more info, check out:

• Sign up for Google Wave (includes video)


• Wave Protocol website


• Wave APIs & code


• Aaron's diagram of wave protocols

If you have a Wave account, you can find this tech guru at jaaron@wavesandbox.com

Links

We’ll add more as I find them:

• Facebook event with photos


• BarCamp Wiki


• Photos on Flickr


• Tweets


• Belle’s videos on Blip.TV
  
  
  
  • the Lumina session [Lumina website]
  
  
  • the iPhone forum
  
  
  • Bill’s Go Indie video
  
  
  • River’s Analytics session
  
  
  • William’s iPhone developer session
  
  
  • Google Wave Part 1 and Part 2


• Andrei’s slides from his HK Government funding for startups session


• Ben’s slides on Pylons + Tokyo Cabinet


• Video of Kin Ko’s winning talk on Mobile games in China


• Andy’s links from his session on open source design


• Hitchhiker’s Guide to Startup Survival slides


• Poken made a splash


• Preetam Rai’s Travel 4 Web 2.0 slides


• Bill’s blog on his Go Indie session


• Alan Knowles’ review on his blog, “Smoking toooooo much PHP”


• Sammy Fung wrote about his session on GoGoGo (English Version)

Sessions

Here’s a copy of the final schedule for the day.

Many, many thanks to all those who made BarCamp HK possible, especially the other organizers, Aaron, Belle, Ben and Henry, and to all the sponsors who generously gave us support: Turner, Microsoft, Adobe, Net Dimensions, Cyberport, Pinpoint Asia, DediPower, Dookas and Socialutions.

And of course, barcamp couldn’t exist if it weren’t for everyone who attended and participated. Thanks to everyone who shared a session and put up with me moving sessions around.

Get Involved

If you know of any other barcamp hk links please add them in the comments.

If you’re interested in getting involved in barcamp hk next year, then please add your name to the wiki. We’re always looking for more volunteers and sponsors. And please leave feedback (here or on the wiki). What would you like to see next year? What worked well? What didn’t? Personally, I’d love to see barcamp reach a broader audience of participants from film, art, and music industries.And if you liked barcamp hk, then don’t forget to attend other barcamps in Asia. Preetam Rai has a great weblog featuring barcamps in south east Asia. BarCamp Phnom Penh is coming up next month.

And a picture of me with my Flip video recorded taken by the lovely Ryanne (@laihui), who blogs at NiceSoda.com.

Digital Life Balance

You gotta love the way Thai Twitterer, @navikn, sums up a balanced week steeped in digital! How do we fit Barcamp and Twestival in there?



Check out his site (Navik.net).

Fleishman-Hillard: My New Role

Today is a very special day. After 12 years riding the rollercoaster life of Internet start-ups, I'm starting a new job as Vice President of Digital Integration in Asia Pacific for Fleishman-Hillard, a leading global communications consultancy.

My role is to:

• Encourage my colleagues and clients to practice the art of conversation, be it online or offline.
• Help companies and governments embrace social media as part of their communications strategy.
• Listen to the myriad of voices online and engage the ones that matter.
• Continue being a thought leader and evangelist, hosting "Web Wednesday”, Asia's premier Internet community.

The best part of this new position is that I can continue to be a pioneer in the digital sphere, but with the support of a global network of talented communication specialists.

Help Poor People Help Themselves

As a follow up from our previous donations to Oxfam, we will be giving 10% of the entrance fees from Web Wednesday Version 28.0, held on Sept. 2nd, to this charity's new programme, Oxfam Unwrapped.
The money goes to "help poor people help themselves" and buys useful, basic things like a skeep, water pipes or methane gas tank.

Here's a short video introduction (in Cantonese) from Oxfam's ambassador on a trip to Gansu Province in China.

Twitter: you ask @jayoatway

As the topic for this month's social mixer (2nd Sept) is Twitter, we're going to try out something new: A live feed of questions posed over the Twitter directly to @jayoatway. (It may get rowdy in which case I'll jump in to pick and chose the juiciest questions).

The folks at Volar have set up Wifi especially for this event and we'll have a big screen with a live stream of questions for the audience to view. To get heard, the rules are simple. Just add "askjay" to your tweet and it'll pop up on the screen. Click here to see the live results page on Twitter.

Warning: technology may prevent us from offering this on the night. So be kind.

Web Wednesday Hong Kong - Social Mixer V28.0 (Sept 2)

Thank you to our 130 guests and to Leon Ho for sharing his secrets to a productive life, using a combination of online and paper technologies at our August social mixer. If you missed it live, you can listen at your own leisure here. (For automatic updates, subscribe to our podcast channel - podcasts.webwednesday.hk)

Our next networking event (V28.0) will be on Wednesday 2nd September, where apart from movin' and groovin' with the Asian Digerati, you'll have a chance to participate in an interview with Hong Kong's leading Twitter Star, Jay Oatway, the man behind (@jayoatway, @portension, @chargedmobi) and lead organiser of Twestival Hong Kong (@twestivalhk).

The topic is: "Twitter: pointless babble or ambient intimacy?" How has this microblogging phenomenon grown from 2 million to 40 million users in the past 12 months and what are the implications?

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 and global tweeting communities.

There will be an entrance fee of HK$100, unless you're a bona-fide student, in which case it's HK$50. This includes one complimentary drink. All other drinks are at Happy Hour prices. (We will issue a receipt, if you require one). As per usual, we will donate 10% of entrance fees to a local charity.

Do invite fellow social media fans to join the Asian Twitterati on Wednesday 2nd September at Volar Bar & Club, Basement, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central.

Sign up for the event on Facebook, LinkedIn or on this blog.

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

Napoleon Biggs
Founder & Host - Web Wednesday

Podcast: Leon Ho, Stepcase Lifehack.org

Napoleon Biggs, Founder and Host of Web Wednesday, interviews Leon Ho, local Hong Kong Internet pioneer and founder of Stepcase, who own the popular international productivity blog, "Lifehack.org" and and have developed several iPhone apps.

Leon shares with us how to run a profitable business whilst at college and how to use a combination of paper and technology in order to get things done in a digitally-cluttered world. We also discuss how to successfully port your business to the iPhone.

Recorded at Web Wednesday Hong Kong V27.0 at Volar in Lan Kwai Fong on Wednesday 5th August, 2009.



Crisp editing by our new "Multimedia Producer", Henry Oh. Somehow, he finds the time to run Socialutions, the Hong Kong Startup Association and help us to clean up this podcast!

Tonight: First 2 Forward Match 3!

Web Wednesday's got game! Two top creative directors. Five rounds of competition. One event that reveals the freshest, funniest, and freakin' coolest stuff from around the Web.

Come join the local creative community for First 2 Forward's 3rd match, between Endy Fung, Executive Creative Director of Razorfish and Alan Kan, Creative Partner of Kitchen Digital.

More great prizes from Adobe, who's generous support helps this event happen!

Starts at 8pm at Privé, 60 Wyndham St, Central, Hong Kong. RSVP on Facebook.

Copy of our beautifully-designed email invite, thanks to Brent's creative team at MRM Worldwide!


First 2 Forward就是由城中兩位出色的創意總監，進行五個回合的激戰，誓要以最快速度，將網上最千奇百怪、搞鬼惹笑、怪誕瘋狂的網上資料公諸同好！

得勝者將可獲贈由Adobe送出的免費軟件！謝謝他的支持。

今晚First 2 Forward更精彩的第三回合即將上演，你又豈能錯過？晚上8時 Privé, 中環雲咸街60號. RSVP on Facebook

Web Wednesday: global network, local community!

Since launching in Hong Kong back in June 2007, one of my goals was to build an active community of people who are passionate or simply curious about the Internet and digital media. By joining Web Wednesday and attending the local social mixeres, you are qualified to become a member of the "Asian Digerati".

Even in the depths of the current economic tsunami, it turns out that the entrepreneurial community spirit is still very much alive. We now have budding communities and regular monthly gatherings in the following cities (note that not all are in Asia!):

Hong Kong: Started by Napoleon Biggs in June '07

Singapore Started by Kevin Tan, Joe Nguyen and Andy Tu in November 2007.

Guangzhou: Started by Lonnie Hodge in July 2008.

Beijing: Started by Jim James, Oliver Dooley and Daniel Shi in March 2009.

Jakarta: Started in April 2009.

Halmstad (Sweden): Started by Mikael Ohren in May 2009.

Bangkok: Started by a large group of Thai Digerati in July 2009.

Ho Chi Min: Started by Chris Tran in August 2009.

Now that we have the foundation of a truly multinational network, I've set up a Fan page on Facebook under the "Web Wednesday Asia" moniker so that we can all link up via one easy to use page. A unified blog is on the way. In the meantime, do become a Fan and tell us if you like this way of joining up all the cities.

Web Wednesday Asia on Facebook

Looking for Hong Kong's Top Tweeters

We're asking for your help to find the most interesting users of Twitter ("Tweeters") in Hong Kong. 幫忙尋找香港最有趣的Tweeter！

"Interesting" can mean: timely, topical, amusing, shocking, unusual, entertaining, artistic, poetic, educational, stimulating, thought-provoking etc. We leave it up to you to chose but at least tell us why you like them.

Our goal is to invite up to 5 popular local Tweeters to be guest speakers at Web Wednesday's next Social Mixer on 2nd September at Volar in Lan Kwai Fong. We welcome people who tweet in English or Chinese (or even Nepalese, Hindi, Tagalog etc.).

Help Flood Victims in China, Support Oxfam HK

Back in May at PunchParty Hong Kong, a gathering of local bloggers and grass-root digi-gurus, I had the great fortune of bumping into a gentle young lady, who goes by the rather intriguing name of "Crazylegz".

Apart from being an avid blogger and Twitterer, it turns out that she "moonlights" as the Communications Officer for Oxfam Hong Kong.

Naturally, I didn't want to out this valuable opportunity to waste... So, three months later, I'm happy to announce that Web Wednesday will be donating 10% of our entrance fees at the next social mixer on Wednesday 5th August to help flood survivors of the July floods in Guangxi, Guizhou and Hunan.

Don't worry, there is a digital link here. In fact, the local Oxfam team seem pretty Internet-savvy, they've posted photos of their activities to help poor farmers on Flickr, a slideshow of which is embedded below.





And, you can follow their latest activities on Twitter (twitter.com/oxfamhongkong). I like their Twitter bio which says in few words what they actually do; namely, "Working with people against poverty" or in Chinese, "助人自助 對抗貧窮".

To make your own contribution, either donate online or download a donation form.

An interesting aside. Do you know what the Oxfam logo stands for?


Neither did I, until now: 'The "O" and "X" in the logo are joined to form a graphic representation of a person's head and shoulders, and emphasises the humanity of Oxfam Hong Kong's work. It also represents a ribbon, a universal symbol of solidarity. The green colour of the logo (the Oxfam Green) represents energy and freshness."

Personally, I prefer their Chinese name, "樂施會" (pronounced "leshihui" in Putonghua or "loksiwui" in Cantonese). Literally, it means "carry out happiness community" (more catchy than the brand "Oxfam"?) and seems to come from the Chinese idiom, "好善樂施".

Special Member Offer: One Month Free Hosting with DediPower!

As a follow up to their generous sponsorship of Web Wednesday HK's 2 Year Anniversary (May '09), DediPower (www.dedipower.asia) is now offering our members One Month's Free Hosting.

All you need to do is contact Kheng Sim on (852) 3185-0688 and commit to a 12-month contract of their 100% uptime managed hosting services. You've got until 31st August to take up this opportunity, so Power up on Dedi now!

You can follow them on Twitter (twitter.com/dedipower). According to their groovy interface, their most recent client is knowhownonprofit.org, a knowledge base for "everything and everyone you need to know to run a non-profit". Good on yer!

Podcast: Benjamin Grubbs, Turner Entertainment

Thanks to the able (and patient) ears of Henry Oh, Co-Founder of Socialutions and the Hong Kong Start-up Association, we can now bring you the upgraded audio recording of my interview with Benjamin Grubbs, Regional Head of Interactive Media for Turner Entertainment Networks Asia, owners of Cartoon Network Asia.

Benjamin refutes the rumour that ecommerce is not booming in Asia and gives us insight on Turner's ventures into online gaming (Ben 10, Tom & Jerry and other cartoon characters), new forms of interactive education (Mathletics), user-generated cartoons (ToonCreator), virtual merchandise and creative ways for content owners to work with advertisers online.

Recorded at Web Wednesday Hong Kong V26.0 at Volar in Lan Kwai Fong on Thursday 2nd July, 2009.

Web Wednesday - Social Mixer V27.0 (Aug 5)

Calling Hong Kong Digerati!

A shout out to Ben Grubbs for being a highly informative and savvy guest at our July mixer. We'll be posting the podcast to this blog and our podcast channel (podcasts.webwednesday.hk) within the next few days.

Our next networking event will be on Wednesday 5th August, where apart from meeting some great people, you'll have a chance to listen to Leon Ho (leonho.com), local Internet pioneer and founder of Stepcase, who own the popular international productivity blog, “Lifehack.org”


and have developed several iPhone apps.


From the Lifehack.org website, "This site is dedicated to lifehacks...hacks, tips and tricks that get things done quickly by automating, increase (sic) productivity and organizing... endorsed by many major newspapers and publishers...rated in the #100 most popular blog by Technorati."

We'll be talking about how to get things done in a digitally-cluttered world, how to survive the daily demands of social media (and still keep your job!) as well as how to successfully port your business to the iPhone.

Leon obviously practices what he preaches as, given all his entrepreneurial endeavours, he still finds time to tweet, blog, post photos to Flickr and share interesting website links on del.icio.us. And if you want to get to know him more, you can view his profile on LinkedIn, bug him on Facebook as well as track him down on FriendFeed.

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 and global blogging communities.

There will be an entrance fee of HK$100, unless you're a bona-fide student, in which case it's HK$50. This includes one complimentary drink. All other drinks are at Happy Hour prices. (We will issue a receipt, if you require one). As per usual, we will donate 10% of entrance fees to a local charity (this time, we're looking at Oxfam's local programmes).

Do invite fellow GTD practitioners to join the Asian Digerati on Wednesday 5th August at Volar Bar & Club, Basement, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central.

Sign up for the event on Facebook, LinkedIn or on this blog.

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

Hej där!

Napoleon Biggs
Founder & Host - Web Wednesday

Podcast: Top100.cn - Gary Chen

If you missed Gary Chen, CEO of Top100.cn, guest speaker at our most recent social mixer (June 3) in Hong Kong, here's your chance to listen to the podcast.

I must admit that Gary was a quite challenge to interview as he held his cards very tightly to his chest. Nevertheless, it's worth a listen as - apart from hearing me speak Mandarin - Gary does admit to the difficulties being faced by music companies in China and explains how he sees Top100.cn's partnership with Google ("Google Music") becoming an advertising-driven role model for websites in other parts of the world. May they succeed!



A shout out to Henry Oh, for spending what little spare time he has to take this recording up a notch in terms of sound quality. Henry was a previous guest speaker at Web Wednesday Hong Kong and is the co-founder of Socialutions and the Hong Kong Start-Up Association.

Podcast: Freestyle Beatboxing - HeartGrey and Anton

We warmed up the crowd - and really got Victor going! - with two local lads who performed freestyle beatboxing at the last Web Wednesday social mixer in June.

At first sight, they looked like two normal, timid high-school kids but...with a microphone in their hands, they became the groovy artists, known as "HeartGrey" and "Anton".

Listen to their performance by clicking on the play button below.



Many thanks again to Henry Oh, for editing out all the background noise and making a recording in a nighclub sound so good. Henry was a previous guest speaker at Web Wednesday Hong Kong and is the co-founder of Socialutions and the Hong Kong Start-Up Association.

Web Wednesday - Social Mixer V26.0 (July 2)

Calling all Hong Kong Digerati and cartoon lovers!

Due to the public holiday on July 1st (Hong Kong Handover Anniversary), we'll be moving Web Wednesday to THURSDAY 2nd July.

Topic: "Ben 10: creating a new multimedia cartoon empire", interview with Benjamin Grubbs, Regional Head of Interactive Media for Turner Entertainment Networks Asia (owners of Cartoon Network Asia).

We'll be talking about online gaming, new forms of interactive education, user-generated cartoons, virtual merchandise and creative ways for content owners to work with advertisers online.

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 and global entertainment industries.

There will be an entrance fee of HK$100, unless you're a bona-fide student, in which case it's HK$50. This includes one complimentary drink. All other drinks are at Happy Hour prices. (We will issue a receipt, if you require one). In fitting with the theme, we will donate 10% of entrance fees to a children's charity.

Do invite fellow Generation Z marketeers to join the Asian Digerati on Thursday 2nd July at Volar Bar & Club, Basement, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong.

Sign up for the event on Facebook or on this blog.

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

Napoleon Biggs
Founder & Host - Web Wednesday

Web Wednesday Goes Gaming in Cantonese

After two years of building a buzzing community of English-speaking Digerati who meet monthly for "Web Wednesday", I'm proud to announce our venture into the local creative community with a new spin-off event in Cantonese.

"First2Forward" is a fun idea that came from Brent Horner, Associate Creative Director of MRM Worldwide. (I kowtow to his fluent "Pak Hwa"!).

Here's our wall banner with it's Chinese slogan - “搶先傳世界”. (Do you get the pun?):


First2Forward is a fast-paced game show. Two top creative directors, battling it out over five rounds of competition. One event that reveals the freshest, funniest, and freakin' coolest stuff from around the Web.

First 2 Forward就是由城中兩位出色的創意總監，進行五個回合的激戰，誓要以最快速度，將網上最千奇百怪、搞鬼惹笑、怪誕瘋狂的網上資料公諸同好！

Web Wednesday - First 2 Forward Game Show

View more Microsoft Word documents from Napoleon Biggs.

Join us the third Wednesday of every month to find out who's got the hottest links in Hong Kong.

比賽將於每個月的第三個星期三舉行，想知道哪一位參加者能夠找到最多網上人氣連結？立即參加就可以！

Match #1 features Thierry Halbroth, Sr CD, McCann Erickson Vs. Mark Ringer, ECD, TBWA\Tequila and will be held on June 17th at Volar, starting at 8pm (creative types like to go out later!).

Sign up on Facebook. (Below is the email we sent out to the Web Wednesday members as well as the HK4As member list).

I'd like to thank Adobe for their support and for providing their creative suite of design tools as valuable prizes: Adobe Creative Suite 4 Premium and Photoshop Lightroom 2. Great prizes from Adobe!

Let's get forwarding! 傳世界吧！

(Yes Victor, we've finally got there! Thanks for pushing for an event in Chinese and for helping get the word out on HongKongPhooey.wrodpress.com)

Web Wednesday Guangzhou Gets Catalysing

As Lonnie Hodge was away visiting fellow academics in Suzhou, Singaporean web consultant Junde Yu took it upon himself to host the catalyst night for Web Wednesday Guangzhou in May. By all accounts, the web business presentations went down a treat. Good job, Junde!

Above is a shot from the event to give you a taste of the atmosphere. You can read the full account of presentations that evening on Junde's blog.

Apple's Pulsating Wall of Apps

With the daily tsunami of data that we all endure, I'm becoming more and more fascinated by how creative ways to summarise it in a visualy captivating way.

At the recent WWDC event in San Francisco, Apple put together a video wall of over 50,000 apps in it App Store. As an app was purchased, it pulsated on the screen! Love it! (Thanks to TechCrunch for pointing this out and sharing the video below).

Remembering Tiananmen

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Tiananamen on June 4th, we will be donating 10% of the collected entrance fees from tonight's Web Wednesday social mixer to "Home Coming - 回家 ", a movement to bring Tiananmen exiles back to their home country, China. You can also donate directly here.

Freestyle Beatboxing - Made in Hong Kong

As tonight's Web Wednesday event is all about music, we're going to pump up the volume with two local beatboxers, "HeartGrey" and "Anton". [A massive "Thank you" to Kate Sullivan, a working actress and the producer of E.V.E.N.T., for putting us in contact].

This video shows the two guys at home on the sofa, giving it a go.



But my favourite is the setting for this one in his toilet! You gotta love the laundry hanging in the background! Good to see that "the throne" still remains a place of great creativity, even for hyper cool beatboxers!

Web Wednesday Hong Kong - Listen to Past Interviews

Now here's a funky, flash widget recently added to the Web Wednesday blog, where you can listen to guest interviews from previous social mixers in Hong Kong. We've also thrown in a few comments and mutterings for your enlightenment!

You'll notice that the more recent recordings are of a higher quality; I'd like to thank the multi-talented Henry Oh for spending his valuable time to add a badly-needed element of professionalism! Henry was a previous guest speaker at Web Wednesday Hong Kong and is the co-founder of Socialutions and the Hong Kong Start-Up Association. Enjoy!