Maura Welch on Social Media

The power of data visualization

There are 7 billion humans on earth and the Internet contains more than 1 billion Terabytes.

Data? We've got that. We're drowning in it. 

But how to grok it?  How to draw out key insights for what is happening between, among and individually to 7 billion humans, and hopefully, well, make the world a better place?

We need maps. Lots of maps.

Here are a few cartographers that show how powerful it is when we look at data visually...

David McCandless
 

Hans Rosling "Let my dataset change your mindset"

 

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Branded Virtual Goods set for explosive growth

This week Viximo and Virtual Greats issued the first major industry report on branded virtual goods, predicting that the branded segment of the virtual goods market will be worth $150 million by 2013, an annual growth rate of 113%.  

Branded virtual goods represent a nascent market, holding less than 1% of the booming virtual goods marketplace.…but the forecast shows the incredible growth to come year over year.

At WeeWorld our passionate userbase of 2 million teens per month, display tremendous purchase intent for branded items. Teens flock to WeeWorld to express themselves through their WeeMee avatars, play games, meet friends and chat in our virtual world. Each and every day they beg us for branded items that can help them reflect their real world affiliations and styles in the virtual space.

How popular are branded items? Here is a glimpse from the report:

"According to WeeWorld, a social game and virtual world with a global audience of more than 36 million registered “WeeMee” avatars, unit sales of Snoop Dogg branded items are 2.5 times higher than the highest selling non-branded, comparably priced item. In addition, sales of Snoop Double Doggs (which fall into the category of branded pets called “Cweetures”) are 5 times higher than the highest selling non-branded pet. Since all WeeMee avatars are created equal and do not feature special functionality (i.e. they are vanity-only items) it is clear that Snoop Dogg’s own brand equity is the driving factor behind the increased desirability for these virtual goods that draw from his likeness."

We're proud to offer a prime destination for brands interested in selling virtual goods. Stay tuned - we've got a lot more to come.

Read more about the report at Virtual Goods News

Where we're headed

I've been reading Fred Wilson's blog for a long time. He always provides intelligent, incisive observations and ideas.

He recently gave a talk at Google about why the internet is disruptive, what it's disrupting and where we are likely headed from here. Worth contemplating. Here is the slide show:

Disruption - Final Version

View more presentations from fredwilson.

Did you know?

It's all about the humans

David Armano is one of those rare people that can think deeply but clearly and articulate complicated things in visual, emotive and uncomplicated ways. Thanks, David, for always making a trip to your blog Logic + Emotion well worth it.

Here is his latest killer presso:

The Micro-Sociology of Networks

View more presentations from David Armano. (tags: behavior human)

Help me save the world

In 2006 Barbara Heffner sent me John Wood's book after reading my Boston.com blog post about it. She said John's story changed her after she read it. So I read the book. It changed me too.

John Wood was a rising Microsoft marketing exec who went on a backpacking vacation to Nepal to take a break from the burnout of his demanding job.

While there he was invited to visit a school. As he toured the building he found that the 450 kids that went there had ZERO books. None. Unless you counted the two castoff books from backpackers like himself - a paperback Danielle Steele novel and a Lonely Planet Guide to Mongolia. These were kept under lock and key to keep them safe from the children!

He vowed to come back with books for the school. And he did.

I'll get out of the way and let John tell his incredible story:

I'm inspired by John's journey from marketing software to marketing the fight against illiteracy and poverty and founding Room to Read...not to mention the personal courage it took for him to walk away from those Microsoft dollars.

And while lots of aid groups make a difference, the reason I'm so passionate about Room to Read is that to reach success, Wood applied key business and marketing principles he learned at Microsoft:

• Scalable, measured, sustainable results
• Low-overhead, allowing maximum investment in educational infrastructure
• Challenge grants fostering community ownership and sustainability
• Strong local staff and partnerships creating culturally relevant programs

The scalable, measured results start immediately with the way Room to Read works with volunteers and donors.

You don't just donate cash and wonder where it goes. Instead you know exactly what your money is being used for, because you work together with Room to Read to fund a project. It's a model for 21st century philanthropy...linking communities with donors so that each can co-invest to create sustainable change.

So here's where you come in...

I've joined forces with Barbara Heffner and a number of other inspired people to reinvigorate the Boston Chapter of Room to Read. And we're thrilled to launch our first project.

On Wednesday, November 12th we are hosting an event with the goal of building 10 libraries for kids in Cambodia. We need $40,000 to reach our goal.

What can you do?

Come to our event at the Elephant Walk restaurant in Cambridge on Nov. 12th!
Here's the invitation
$25 per person donation/$30 at the door
We will provide munchies and drinks and a silent auction (Red Sox tickets are in the auction - hey, there's always next year!)

And if you can't come...please make a donation to help us reach our goal.

We will track all money raised and get back to you on the progress we're making.

Let's be generous so that one day soon you will read a blog post or email from me showcasing pictures of the libraries we have built together.

That way you and I can see the smiling beautiful faces of the kids we help...and have the experience that so inspired John Wood to leave Microsoft and use what he learned there to change the world.

Personal paparazzi

Source: Springwise

Call NY-based MethodIzaz and hire your own paparazzi:

The service "will send an anonymous photographer to surreptitiously capture select moments in a consumer's life and immortalize them with a portfolio of professionally produced photos. To arrange the service, the consumer provides a self photograph ahead of time along with details of their schedule and any specific emotion, mood or theme they hope to capture."

Makes a nice gift. Or ego trip.

"It's the people, not the technology"

Source: Fast Company via YPulse

Anastasia Goodstein says it right. I work with technology all day long. But all the technology in the world won't help you unless you have a flexible, smart and creative team that understand how to work and accomplish goals with other humans.

Fast Company uses IBM as an example of a company actively encouraging this behavior.

“IBM puts emphasis on employee contributions of ideas, collaboration, and motivating people to engage in…pro-social behavior.” The company seeks out instances where employees help others succeed. “Too often, we have measurement and reward systems that are focused on how many transactions did you process, how many orders did you ship, and how many deals did you close -- rather than who helped these other people succeed.”