Reputation and the Web

An Efficient and Innovative Non-Profit?

One of the great benefits of the SocialVibe movement is the opportunity to work with some inspiring charitable organizations.  This evening David Levy (SocialVibe's VP of Business Development) and I had the chance to visit with Direct Relief International at an event sponsored by Amgen.  It was particularly fun to talk with Direct Relief's CEO Thomas Tighe, who formerly was COO of the Peace Corps, across a wide range of issues (i.e., Jeffrey Sachs versus William Easterly, the role of celebrities in fundraising, etc.).
 
David and I walked away from the event even bigger fans of their work in supporting health and emergency related services around the globe.  They are clearly a very efficient, yet progressive organization:
 - For ever $1 in contributions, they provide over $30 in goods and services (they do a great job of getting pharmaceutical and healthcare companies to donate products);
 - They focus on building relationships at the local level and work with organizations that desperately want change (versus providing money through larger goverment relationships where the funds may not directly reach the people in need);
 - Fedex delivers products free of charge (and this is a very rare benefit in talking to several Fedex employees at the event).

Finally, they are really using technology to help facilitate their efforts, whether it is implementing an ERP system to manage strategic sourcing and fulfillment, or Google Earth to inform response to the latest Myanmar cyclone:

Congrats to Direct Relief on playing such an important role worldwide, and doing in such an efficient and innovative manner!

Photo Sources: Direct Relief Intl and Google

The Autobahn and One-Liter Racing

Maybe they are on to something here - rather than reducing the speed limit on the Autobahn (and other "tracks") to conserve fuel and reduce pollution, how about we instead mandate a minimum MPG and incent the car manufacturers to meet the requirements.

(Photo Source: Tesla)

The Britney...Umm Yahoo! Economy

Several months ago Portfolio Magazine outlined the impact of the Britney Spears Industrial Complex.

  Whether she's shaving her head or battling for custody of her children, Britney seems to grow more fascinating (and to some people, more lucrative) every time she stumbles. Recent court documents suggest she's amassed a $125 million fortune and continues to rake in about $737,000 a month, or nearly $9 million a year. But that's chicken feed compared with the overall Britney economy.

How is Britney impacting the economy?

Media: "A celebrity tabloid with Britney Spears on the cover sells 1.28 million newsstand copies, some 33 percent more than the average."
Paparazzi: "Britney probably makes up a full 20 percent of the paparazzi business."
Packagers: Concert promoters, night clubs, and product companies are all making millions off of Britney (e.g, Arden has sold over $100M in Britney branded perfumes).

With all the news about Yahoo! over the past four months, I wonder if we need to calculate the Yahoo! Industrial Complex.  Let's break this down:
Media: Seriously, the media industry is making a living off of Yahoo!  TechCrunch is posting twice a day on Y! news.  The WSJ and NY Times are running regular features on Y!'s trials and tribulations.  Ad dollars associated with Y! news must be significant for these publishers (and many others).
Consultants: Yahoo! has allegedly hired Mckinsey and other consulting companies to help with corporate strategy and organizational restructuring.
Analysts / Bankers / Lawyers: Yahoo! is supporting some big bonuses for employees at the many advisors it uses in relation to the Microsoft bid and Icann threat.
Recruiting / Executive Search:  While the firestorm at Y! grows, executive recruiters are having a field day poaching employees for hundreds of new positions.

All that said, I am with Chris Crocker who so fashionably coined the term (and video) "Leave Britney Alone". While Y! has its issues, I would prefer we (as an industry) shift our focus from their challenges to the opportunities ahead and spend the tens of millions of dollars supporting the Y! Industrial Complex on more important needs.

Cement!

Check out this chart from The Oil Drum outlining cement production / usage by country over the last four years!
 
For more reading on China's growth and impact on our future, I highly recommend reading Fareed Zakaria's new book The Post American World. He presents a compelling story of China's unprecedented economic growth (over the past 30 years China has moved 400M out of poverty while growing at faster rate than any major economy in recorded history), while also navigating the impact of their central planning and Confucianism.  Finally, while Zakaria is generally very positive about the United State's role going forward, he believes we are unprepared to tackle China's economic prosperity (whereas we are more prepared to handle more traditional military - political advances).

Where are all the RV's going?

$5 gas is impacting so many aspects of our economy.  Garrison Keillor has a fun article outlining the demise of the RV, and what might emerge instead.  As he says:

"One thing lost, something else gained. Life is like that."

Navel Gazing with Good Magazine

Check out the Good Magazine Blog's nice post on SocialVibe.  I have to meet Patrick, the author, at some point as he clearly writes with a good sense of wit and humor:

"We don't know about you, but when companies start talking about harnessing the potential of online social networks and monetizing brand-identity through actionable interfaces, we tend to navel-gaze while contemplating a leap from a window. But every once in a while, something comes along and turns that seemingly meaningless business school blabber into a fantastically simple (and awesome) idea."