August 27, 2013

Podcast: Chinese Wikipedia

If you missed the last Web Wednesday social mixer (V73), you can listen to the interview below, hosted on our podcast channel on SoundCloud.

[A special thanks to our sound master, Charlie Toller, Founder of BrandBeat Asia].

August 25, 2013

App Annie at Web Wednesday (V74)

Calling all budding app entrepreneurs and mobile analysts!

In a world increasingly challenged by apps and big data, come learn about how App Annie is pioneering app store analytics for a new generation of mobile entrepreneurs and technology investors.


Oliver Lo, App Annie's Vice President of Marketing (employee #4), will share the story of building a global startup from Beijing and San Francisco, tell us why East Asia is dominating the global app economy and provide some valuable tips for marketers, developers,  publishers and investors.

Doors open at 6:30pm with the interview starting at 7:15pm on Wednesday 4th September, 2013 at Bisous, 9/F, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham St, Central, Hong Kong.

The entrance fee of HK$100 includes a complimentary drink and the opportunity to meet driven internet entrepreneurs and digital media folk.

Sign up on Facebook or MeetUp.

Go forth and amplify App Annie at Web Wednesday!

AppAnnie is making sure that the can be discovered on social media. Find them on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+ and Weibo.

Here's a short teaser video about their service:



And an interesting deck on the "mobile app economy":



TechinAsia also wrote an article about their start-up roots in Beijing.
I want to find out who "Annie" is modelled on.

Talking Social Media to Women Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong

One recent Saturday morning, I had the pleasure of introducing the social media landscape in Hong Kong (and a bit of China) to a room of 100+ women entrepreneurs.

The full-day workshop was organised by The Entrepreneurs Club of Hong Kong (Website, Facebook, Twitter and Google+) and Women Entrepreneurs Online (Website, Facebook and Google+), an initiative backed by Google.

As the feedback was extremely positive, I've uploaded my presentation to Slideshare, added the podcast recording on SoundCloud and embedded the whole shabang below. Enjoy and do give me your feedback.



Alternatively, you can listen to the talk on our podcast channel on SoundCloud below:


August 13, 2013

Tofu and Violence - Art meets Crowd-Funded Goodness

Hong Kong artist, poet and curator, Claire Lee, will join us Wikipedia at Web Wednesday (V73) on 21st August at Bisous to tell us about her new book, "Tofu & Violence".


She is seeking funds via the Hong Kong based crowd-funding site, FringeBacker, to publish the book and run an exhibition of the artists works. All proceeds of the sales of the book, after publishing costs, will be donated to the Rain Lily (風雨蘭) crisis centre run by the Association Concerning Violence Against Women. (You can find the charity on Facebook).



You can support this good cause and local artists via FringeBacker. For HK$1,800, you get a creative photo of yourself with tofu!



August 9, 2013

Wikipedia at Web Wednesday (V73)

Calling all budding Know-it-alls!

Come learn how Wikipedia became one of the top 10 most-visited sites on the web and shake your smartphones with the local Digerati and internet start-ups for our 73rd Web Wednesday social mixer on 21st August at Bisous, 9/F, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham, Street, Central, Hong Kong.

We'll be talking crowd-sourced knowledge with Jeromy-Yu (Jerry) Chan, who donates his time to improve greater human good as the Coordinator-in-chief of Wikimania 2013, Councillor for Wikimedia Hong Kong (on Facebook) and Administrator for Chinese Wikipedia (维基百科).


Wikimedia's mission in Hong Kong is to:
* Promote the use of Wikimedia Projects
* Promote Free culture to the general public in Hong Kong
* Encourage the freedom of artistic and literary creations
* Promote the correct understanding in intellectual properties
* Encourage the exchange and dissemination of academic knowledge



Doors open at 6:30pm with the interview starting at 7:15pm on Wednesday 21st August, 2013. The entrance fee of HK$100 includes a complimentary drink, the chance to network with Hong Kong movers and groovers in the internet and digital media space. Come prepared with tough questions to ask the speaker.

Spread the word of Wikipedia at Web Wednesday, using the shortened URL "bit.ly/wwhkv73" and hashtag "#wwhk".


Let us know you're coming via the event invite page on the Web Wednesday Group on Facebook.

Twitter UK - Pride and Prejudice

Recently, in the UK, there has been uproar about the increasingly offensive nature of personal attacks and threats via Twitter. A recent campaigner to have Jane Austen added to the £10 note received sinister death threats.


The BBC picked this up and it was discussed in one of my favourite podcasts, "Digital Planet". Listen to the full podcast here.

Salena Godden (@salenagodden) summarised the whole phenomenon beautifully in this poet:


Pride and Prejudice

This morning I noticed the sky was a baggy story
I reached up to pull at a flappy bit of old argument
It was a tired and clammy cloud
It was wallpaper from an old protest that was never resolved
Merely brushed aside until she pulled her burnt bra on to make the tea

Before long I had peeled it all away in strips
And once that corner of sky was torn
Behind the story and underneath
There was just the opaque roof of a department store elevator
I wanted to pull the slats apart, to climb up into the lift shaft
And cut the ropes and watch twitter world crash.

And off-line and off-grid
We were all fish out of water
Slapped onto the cold pavement

And we stopped compulsive likelikelike button pushing
Opened the curtains to daylight to celebrate our differences and our sameness
And seeing the barriers all shattered we were forced to go outside
And walk and work side by side

We won’t remember the trolls
Or the troll slayers
But the bully goat bridge that we built to shelter them

I don’t recall the names of playground bullies
But the classmates that took detention by my side
And with a sinking feeling now I remember the girls
That fingered their blonde plaits and stood by and watched

We are plugged into a distraction
Logged into fiction
Counting sheep and followers
When our dreams are so much more,
More than we ever gave them credit for

We are sleep-walking sleep-talking retweeting parrots
We keep poking and fiddling with the knobs
Like it’s the only way to sound check our speakers

And back in twitterworld we still argue:

Because a woman cannot choose to be silent if she had no voice
Because the invisible women that have no votes have no choice
Because silence is gold but it’s kept in a bank
Because there are so many inspiring women to thank and to rank
Because it isn’t just 140 characters, its your motive and intent
Because twitter is real life and you tweet, threatened and sent

“One word from you shall silence me forever”
That’s Jane Austen
And there's two words
‘Pride and Prejudice’