Interflora, flowers experts, not delivery experts

The good thing about working for yourself is that when you have a bad experience with a company, you can tell it as it is, without worrying of offending a client, a prospect or your colleagues. I will make ample use of that new privilege. I am in Santa Clara for 2 months to raise funds for my new start-up, Karmony. My wife is working in London. It is not easy. I ordered a bouquet of flowers via Interflora to be delivered to her office on Monday, as a surprise. The bouquet arrived on Tuesday. The flowers looked tired. In addition to my personal note was a brochure with all the flowers' prices... This is so unprofessional. I hope that this post will add to others who experienced such poor service from Interflora, and forces the company to take notice.

Industry Experts Blog Hot Topics in Online PR, Marketing

The International Association of Online Communicators (IAOC) has just begun the Fall 2007 season of the popular educational blog show, "This Week on IAOCblog.com." The program is free and open for PR, marketing and online communications professionals, educators and students, as well as anyone interested in discussing hot topics and trends in Internet marketing communications.

The Fall season kicked off September 24 with guest blogger Peter A. Gloor of MIT's Sloan School of Management, who blogged about analyzing workplace communications. The season continues Oct 15 with computer communications expert Dave Taylor answering that menacing question: Is it okay to get paid to blog?

The blog show features a different guest blogger each week. Our guests are renowned professionals, educators and authors in the field of online communication.

Here is the Fall lineup:

October 15-19, 2007
GUEST: Dave Taylor, Blogsmart, Ask Dave Taylor
TOPIC: Is It Okay to Get Paid to Blog?

October 22-26, 2007
GUEST: Ted Demopoulos, Blogging for Business
TOPIC: Should CEOs Blog?

October 29-November 2, 2007
GUEST: Dianna Huff, Marcom Writer Blog
TOPIC: Writing Search Engine Friendly Copy

November 5-9, 2007
GUEST: Lois Kelly, Foghound
TOPIC: Conversational Marketing: Mood over Matter?

November 13-16, 2007
(Nov. 12 is Veteran's Day)
GUEST: Shel Horowitz, Ethical Marketing Expert
TOPIC: Blogger's Code of Ethics: News or Ruse?

"This Week on IAOCblog.com" takes place at http://www.iaocblog.com/. For more information, please visit this site or contact dreich@tulane.edu.

Good bye Hill & Knowlton, Hello Karmony!

Yesterday was my last day as EMEA VP of digital for Hill & Knowlton. Monday, I am off to Mountain View, California to raise funds for a new generation of social shopping engine. Codenamed “Karmony”, it cuts through the so-called “wisdom of the crowd” to provide only the most relevant product recommendations to individuals. I’ll blog more about Karmony and about my journey as an entrepreneur in the coming days. Wish me luck and stay tuned.

Mobile Television: Europeans not interested

Only 5% would consider trying it within the next 12 months if it was available. Article in French.

Facebook user? You are worth $238

"Microsoft is poised to buy a 5% stake in the firm for between $300m and $500m. That would make Facebook worth up to $10bn" (...) "The valuation would amount to $238 for each of the 42 million people who have Facebook profiles." Guardian article.

Myspace was sold two years ago for $580 million and claims 100 million users.

France: 9 out of 10 search queries are on Google

Google: 85.8%
Yahoo!: 3.8%
Microsoft: 3.4%
eBay: 2.2%
France Télécom: 2%

Article (French).

Pirate Bay sues media giants for 'sabotage'

"The big record and movie labels are paying professional hackers, saboteurs to destroy our trackers" Pirate Bay said."

Story on the Register.

Tianducheng, Paris' replica made in China

Tianducheng, a gated community near Hangzou has its own Eiffel tower (second largest replica in the world), Arc de triomphe and parisian's style appartments.

Article on Yahoo!
More pictures on Reuters.

Short List:: new free weekly men magazine

I picked-up a copy of the first issue of ShortList this morning and for a free paper, I am pretty impressed by it. Phil Hilton, the editor wants to raise above the repetitive "how to get a six pack", football and tits formula that plague FHM, Zoo, Nuts or the like. I wsih them good luck and eagerly await the next issue .

Ahoy! It's talk like a pirate day!

Why talk like a pirate? How: the five As.

The world's best hotels on a budget

Article on the Times about book "Secret hotels" by Erik Torkell.

If you like travelling in style without breaking the bank, this book looks like a must have.

Healthcare companies / eMarketer not web 2.0 ready

In a report titled "Pharmaceutical Marketing Online: Stuck in Web 1.5" eMarketer senior analyst Lisa Phillips said "Pharma's slow adoption of Web 2.0 strategies like blogs, social networks and broadband video can be attributed to its conservative approach to advertising in general and to government restrictions".

Most pharma companies still build "Web 1.0" brochureware websites with limited user information. I agree that the regulatory framework doesn't help.

However, Lisa Phillips names some exceptions such as Rozerem where visitors to the website can see a "video featuring the characters from its TV spots--Abraham Lincoln, a talking beaver and a sleep-deprived young man--with each imploring users to click on his individual section to learn more about the drug".

It's abit more creative but really, how web 2.0 is that??? It's just a layer on a brochureware website...

From Online Media Daily EMarketer report is there.

Facebook costing firms over £130m a day

233 million hours are wasted by employees every month according to employment law firm Peninsula. BBC article. There must be some gains... for some employees somehow...

Wacky Japanese Fanta TV commercials

Happy birthday Malaysia!

50 years since independence. Truely Asia. BBC story.

Free asian anime, music and drama on Crunchyroll

Cool.... Crunchyroll is free but users that pay $6 a month get higher quality and ad free videos. Via Techcrunch who focusses on copyright infringing content found on the site. Why spoil the fun?

nvestment group pays £50m cash for Hirst's diamond skull

When it comes to reconciling art and money, Damien Hirst is the King of cash.
Article on Evening Standard.

Only 5% of UK corporations use blogs on a regular basis,

They are not alone, "less than 6% of the Fortune 500 and 2% of the Forbes 200 Best Small Companies blogged in April and June 2006". Article on eMarketer.

Where do chinese people eat out in london?

Great post on Dim Sum (read the comments too). My regular haunts are:

- Young Cheng (Shaftsbury avenue) for quick lunch
- China China in Chinatown for mixed meat takeaways when I feel lazy and skint
- Royal China (Bayswater or Baker Street branch)
- Four Seasons in Bayswater for duck noodles
- The Hare & Tortoise on High Street Kensington for their soft shell crabs
- Pearl Liang (hidden gem in Paddington for posher meals - lobster noodles is recommended)
- Kiasu on Bayswater for authentic Singaporean fares

World's strangest laws: In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation...

The Times Online showcases the world's 25 strangest laws. My favourites (apart from the one above):

• "It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside down".
• "In France, it is forbidden to call a pig Napoleon."
• "In Ohio, it is against state law to get a fish drunk"
• "In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on Sundays can be jailed."
• "In Chester, Welshmen are banned from entering the city before sunrise and from staying after sunset."
• "In the city of York, it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow."