Planning for 2007
I have been writing this post and deleting it for days. (Well, I didn’t touch my computer at all yesterday, but all those other days). I am thinking about where 2007 goes for me, and for the new media community in general.
2007: The Year It Goes Commercial
I believe this year is 1997 all over again. Last year was 1996. I personally missed out on the last dotCOM craze. I hid out with the telephone companies of the world, which worked rather well from a career standpoint, but I certainly didn’t get made a millionaire overnight and lose it again.
I believe the video space especially, but audio podcasting to a lesser extent, will move forward as commercial products this year. This means things like AbbeyCorps reaching out for ways to make this work for creators. It means Network2 building our guide. It means lots of other companies out there getting in touch with my media making friends and looking to sign various contract deals. I think the CRAZY money comes in 2007, and also the absurd deals, etc.
2007 is the Year of Gathering
I started talking about this in spring of 2006, about content networks being the new blogs. I built Grasshopper New Media around that premise. It’s going to happen this year in lots of ways, in new media and in other spaces. I think consolidation will roll through the Web2.0 universe, as well as the new media space. I think people will ally in all kinds of interesting configurations, to present a stronger position. Look, for instance, at MobaSoft for a very small-scale version of this: Michael Bailey and Jeff Persch of Podsea decided to join forces and fight the good fight together. Why? Because they were standalone businesses working at the same goals.
I think PodCamps will at once explode and implode. I think people will go with Chris Penn’s idea of hosting PodCamp Nano instead of full blown 300-people events, and those micro events will be just as fruitful if done properly. Boston will probably be a huge one, if we can put together everything we’ve in mind, but overall, I see value in following Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom’s view on this. Leaderless organizations, or hub-less organizations will grow dramatically in 2007, all the while delivering value back to a larger alliance.
People will join forces in 2007.
Hollywood and Madison Avenue Strike Back
Don’t count traditional media out. They’re already out there working on these things. And we’re fooling ourselves if we think that entertainment is going to sheer off into the sea of the great and unwashed masses without a monumental struggle. I believe in the new media revolution with every ounce of my being, and yet, I know that there’s no way industries used to capturing billions of dollars a year in our money are just going to politely shrug and say, “Well, you can have that. Yep, okay, take that too. Here’s some more.”
Instead, we have to figure out ways to harness the relationship. How can we bring people with years of experience, someone like Jim Long who has great new productions but who comes from the land of the first few numbers on the TV dial, and make the synergy work for both sides? (Yes, I realize that even SAYING “synergy” makes this sound like a business slide. Think partnership where everyone gets what they’re hoping for.)
My Personal Year
2007 sees me with several challenges professionally:
- Video on the Net in March.
- Make My Own TV
- Network2
- PodCamps everywhere, but Boston 2 especially.
- Grasshopper Reborn (for another post)
- Meetups all over
- Collaboration projects - I want to do more fun media making.
Thanks to an incredible team, we have the speakers mostly lined up for Video. Now we’re just confirming and the like. I won’t brag about it yet, but there are some great people to see at this event.
Chris and I will talk Make My Own TV in a few days, and then we’ll start talking about that a lot.
Network2 is roaring along, and we’re working hard to make it what it needs to be, and working with everyone who has a stake.
PodCamps… Well, those are crazy. I’m heading to Toronto, Second Life, NYC, and a few more for sure.
Grasshopper, as I said, will be another post. We’ve got a really strong health podcast team, and we’ve got a few neat projects in business. Parents is a blog and the LD Podcast kindly shares our branding. We’ll see about growing that in 2007. And I keep threatening to do a new show (in my ubiquitous time).
Meetups? We’ve got East Coast in January, and West Coast in February and March. Other than that, it’s all up in the air. Anywhere you want me to go?
Collaboration- well, that’s up to you. How can I be part of your show? I’ll tell you about MY new show, but I’m still working it out with a coworker. : )
Your Turn
What’s YOUR take for 2007? What do you think rings true on this list? What did I miss? What will YOU be doing in 2007?
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Comments
I need to take a breath and think about 2007. you’ve done a good job getting some thoughts down.
To start 2007 off, the Boston Media Makers are going to ‘make a movie’
We’ll be meeting on Sunday Jan 7th at Sweet Finnish in JP and make a video of Sweet Finnish. After that we are going to help pucsh Ravi’s car into the new Axiom art studio at Green Street and film that too.
There’s going to be lots of cameras and computers and video making…
http://bostonmediamakers.wordpress.com/
Everyone is invited. No agenda, no real plans, other than mingling at 10:00. Then we’ll see what happens…
2007 will be a good year. The Joyful Jubilant Learning group is going to get into high gear. We collaboratively put together our own 12 days of Christmas. A simple start but indication of more to come.
http://www.joyfuljubilantlearning.com/joyful_jubilant_learning/2006/12/twelve_days_of_.html
Enjoy!
Chris,
Thanks for the link love bro! You’re right about old media not going down without a fight. Imagine if limitless oil popped up in everyone’s backyards. Exxon/Mobil would DEFINITELY have something to say about that. I think social media pioneers need to stay focused on what they do best - create community/belonging, facilitate discourse, and empower participation/collaboration. My network still doesn’t get that. Reading cherry-picked viewer emails on TV just doesn’t cut it. I commented on Amanda Congdon’s new vlog the other day (as did many others), And she responded back and forth with me numerous times. This helps distill ideas down and create conversation. At the end of it, perhaps we both came away thinking about how messages are conveyed. Would Russert or Williams spend the time to do this? Never! I have tremendous respect for both of them, but that’s just not how NBC is structured.
I also think we need to keep an eye on net neutrality. Despite the election of a neutrality-friendly congress, don’t underestimate the power of big lobbyists and parlimentary tactics.
What I did NOT get for Christmas was a buyout offer from NBC (sigh). I guess they still like me. Alas, i must continue to toil away in the salt mines of old media, while i designing communities and getting episodes in the can for my emerging new media venture.
Here’s to a prosperous 2007 for all new media pioneers!
Jim
I started reading Wikinomics- I think some of the principals are the same as the Spider and the Starfish. I think many of us see a tipping point coming, where things will either do great or totally implode. The point is not to make the mistakes of the last dot com boom where sillier and sillier ideas were funded out the ying yang- (If one of your ideas does get funded- put your money into a very safe place- don;t suffer the fate of Enron employees and leave it all in stock options.) Look for things that meet the value add rationale- who is making a difference and truly meeting a need- and who is only meeting a want, a fad, a passing fancy. In my opinion, there are a bunch of these things making some headway, but they are destined for the fate of the pet rock. Other tools really make a substantial difference in how information is processed or communicated. And again- it’s not about just copying someone else’s idea and trying to be the next (fill in your example here- You tube, Digg, etc.) but it’s about originality and value add- how are you improving someone’s life in a tangible way?
And use the mom and dad test- if your relatives can’t understand what you are talking about or why they need this new thing, then it probably won’t be around that long.
I have no idea what 2007 will bring for me. I’m still very new to this whole game. But I will tell you this, I do plan on meeting a ton of great people. I just hope the video blogging calender keeps up to date.