The Old Man River Project

Posted by scottvandam in Musings on December 17, 2009

I’ve been following the Old Man River Project since I was given a tour of their tiny boat on the shores of lake Ontario in Burlington this summer. A team of Burlington adventurers traveled from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico on the Mississippi River a 2,400 mile journey with out burning a tank of Gas.

I was delighted to see that they arrived at their destination last week and it was amazing to follow along reading their blog posts as they made down the journey down the Mississippi river that is at the heart of rich stories and history.

Here is their blog post on taking a plunge in the Gulf Of Mexico last week.

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Remembering D-Day

Posted by scottvandam in Musings on November 11, 2009

Take a moment to remember those that lost their lives so we could be free.

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Oracle Open World Photos

Posted by scottvandam in Musings, Technology on October 19, 2009

I have been neglecting my poor blog lately because I’ve been adapting to a newborn in the house, hard at work building a technology business and traveling across the country meeting with clients, customers and partners. My travels took me to the impressive Oracle Open World event in San Francisco and then to the desert heat of Las Vegas to attend an Energy Marketers meeting. After all of that it’s good to be back in the Greater Toronto Area where the air is a little cooler and the fall colors are at it’s peak.

It’s back to the regular grind for me!

Here are a few shots of the Oracle Open World event taken with my Blackberry (it’s not the best camera, but you get the idea)

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The power of a logo

Posted by scottvandam in Musings on September 17, 2009

Well designed and effective logo’s are simplistic and convey strong emotions.  I really enjoyed the following video analyzing the Barack Obama logo and in particular the discussion on the dangers of this strategy for gaining political influence.

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Enterprise Optimization Links

Posted by scottvandam in Technology on September 1, 2009

Haven’t written in a while as I have been hard at work on my professional blog – The Strategy Lab.  In addition I did a video with my partner in crime Paul Hart.  Check out the links and let me know what you think.

A Simple How To Guide for Gathering Business Requirements

Is the recession over and are you investing in Enterprise Software?

Reasons for implementing enterprise software

Here’s the Strategy Lab Video

Reasons to implement and Upgrade Software from Scott Van Dam on Vimeo.

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Journey down the Mississippi and across the Yukon -Why I love the Long Tail

Posted by scottvandam in Musings on August 22, 2009

I’ve never really liked blockbusters. Blockbusters are all the same, sensational, over done, over promoted and over marketed blockbusters are usually over the top. I like stories, real stories not made for profit stories but stories that are told be real people doing incredible things. That’s why you will rarely find me lining up for the latest summer blockbuster movie or listening to top 40 music.

The Long Tail” is an article by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 Wired magazine article which describes the niche strategy of businesses, such as Amazon.com or Netflix, that sell a large number of unique items, each in relatively small quantities.  The internet is the ideal distribution vehicle for the long tail and has allowed me to follow real stories by people with real passions.

Television, Movie Theaters and Newspapers simply do not have the bandwidth to allow me to actively watch and participate in the journeys of  7 guys floating down the Mississippi river in a home made boat or get twitter updates from Ed Wardle hiking across the Yukon.   He’s also documenting his journey on video here

What interesting stories do you have to share?  I’m listening and inspired.

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Social Media Revolution – a few reasons not be a social media snob

Posted by scottvandam in Marketing on August 18, 2009

I don’t normally like to post content on the merits of Social Media on my blog as there are plenty of  social media evangelists out there spreading the good news of using this type of media to grow businesses and establish  brands.  However I thought the following video tells a compelling story for people out there that see social media as being a fad.  Spend 4 minutes and watch this video.

Thanks @unmarketing for finding and sharing.

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Was served up some delicious brain food (Breakfast with the “Woz”)

Posted by scottvandam in Technology on August 17, 2009

:en:Steve Wozniak poses for a photograph at hi...
Image via Wikipedia

Having breakfast with over 700 “nerds” and “technology executives” is not only nourishing for the stomach but also for the brain. When Steven Wozniak appeared at the keynote at this mornings Tech-working breakfast in Waterloo you can be assured that everyone left feeling full of delicious advice.

Mr Wozniak (aka “The Woz”) offered up a buffet of advice on design,  and technology. Here’s  a summary of a few tips that I picked up.

  • Build products that behave and interact in a way that is intuitive by the way we move, touch and feel.
  • Try not to fit technology into a product because it exists – instead focus on making the experience intuitive (make it great)
  • Where do you get the best design ideas from?  Parachute into a project and try to re-engineer it.  Try to put yourself in the shoes of a person that has been parachuted into how computers work today with out having any prior knowledge or experience to the technology.  Are the way things are done really that efficient?
  • Don’t assume the way you’ve done it before is the best
  • Be an engineer that is also an artist – just make it beautiful!
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Breakfast with the Woz

Posted by scottvandam in Technology on August 14, 2009

I’m heading for Breakfast with Steven Wozniak on Monday.  Interesting guy who co-founded Apple Computer.  Here’s a little more about the Woz – an Interview with George Stroumboulopoulos

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Step Aside Facebook & Second Life meet my new friend Milo a Human Virtual Hybrid

Posted by scottvandam in Technology on August 11, 2009

I think we can all agree that human beings are wired to be part of a community.  We associate  ourselves in groups, we interact, we organize on social networks on Twitter & Facebook.  But what about interacting with a Human Virtual Hybrid?  Meet Milo a boy created by a group of  technologists.  He can recognize your voice, sense your emotions, and can interact with your humanness.   The creator sums up my amazement – This is something that science fiction hasn’t even thought of yet and this technology is happening today.

Let me know your thoughts!

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