Mobile Monday at Columbus Circle . . .

Tonight I attended an event called MobileMonday held at Columbus Circle, and I must say, my expectations were not met. Don't get me wrong, the topic in paper, the description, was interesting... I mean, who does not want to learn more about the Internet, mobile content, and the many ways that products/services can reach customers.

Panelist included:
Berge Ayvazian, Chief Strategy Officer, Yankee Group
Carl Taylor, Director of Applications & Services, Hutchison Whampoa Europe
Charles McCathieNevile Chief Standards Officer, Opera Software
Sean Owen, Software Engineer, Google
Matt Womer, Mobile Web Initiative Lead Americas, W3C
Vance P. Hedderel, Director, PR and Communications, dotMobi

Despite the list of hotshots, the first half of the 'discussion' was a meager attempt to define the term 'ubiquitous.' As interesting as this sounds, and however potentially useful it may be, the conversation was starting to deviate from what really matters . . .how to make the web and its content more accessible to everyone, everywhere, etc.

Thankfully, Sean Owen spoke pragmatically about what a customer needs and expects from mobile technology and Internet content. It was his short but poignant conclusionary statements on every topic discussed that propelled me to stay a little bit longer.

Realizing that the panelist know a lot more about the industry than what showed through the round table discussion, I stuck around and spoke with panelist and attendees in order to gain more insight as to where the industry is headed. Though I spoke with several key panelist, my brief conversation with Sean was the most interesting. He mentioned a pixel technology that is used often in Asia (japan i think), whereby a consumer takes a picture of a coupon and then a software program converts the blurred, or less than perfect image, into a crisp image that is presentable to vendors. Vendors then accept the digital coupon, and there you go, savings abound!!

I found the concept interesting, considering that there are many startup companies delivering mobile coupons. I wonder how Wan Yuan feels about this topic, considering that he has recently founded and launched 8coupons.com, a mobile based coupon service serving NYC....

Either way, I met some interesting people, had some great snacks, saw the latest technology (since the discussion was sponsored by Samsung), and more importantly learned about how industry pros view the future of mobile technology. The key takeaway is that mobile technology in the future will be everywhere (or anywhere), do everything, and be ubiquitous.

Just Finished Reading Chip Conley's PEAK

What initially drew me to the book was not the title, the author's name, nor the mention of Maslow, but the seemingly content face on the cover. A person that looks this happy must be doing well, I thought to myself, so I gave it a shot.

Chip Conley brings together Abraham Maslow's Hiearchy of Needs with his own story about his once struggling san franciscan boutique hotel chain Joie de Vivre. The book starts off with a little bit of Maslow's view on human needs (i.e. their ladderlike nature), and briefly describes what these needs are, in the order in which we attain them:

• Physiological - fulfilling hunger, the need for sleep, etc.
• Safety - the need to feel secure
• Love (Social/Connectedness) - the need for affection
• Esteem - respect for others
• Self Actualization - Self fulfillment

[Note: The last need truly reminds me of Soren Kierkegaard's view of a persons ultimate commitment, whereby a person finds ultimate meaning in life via an intense period of questioning pseudo-commitments. Check out Fear & Trembling by Kierkegaard if this appears remotely interesting to you, I highly recommend it!]

Conley effectively portrays how Maslow's theory applies to employees, investors, and customers, the latter which is often overemphasized in our customer-centric world. A couple of quick examples will help elucidate what Conley is trying to get across.

1. Customers have basic needs and expectations when it comes to a service or product, understanding the baseline is as important as meeting it. However, true value lies when a customer is presented with a solution to a need which was previously unknown.

2. Employees have the basic need of money and earning a living. However, as this need becomes permanently, or transiently fulfilled, other more meaningful questions arise, such as, is this job my true calling? Is there meaning for me in this? etc.

These concepts are not inherently difficult to understand -- find out what a stakeholders needs are and work up from there. However, Conley's biographical method of explaining the theory and its many applications serve as a good reminder that business, and the world we live in, remains about people and how we go about fulfilling needs.

checking this out

This is a test post to see how things will look on here. I am a little unsure as to whether or not I like this type of format, we shall soon see.

Carlos