Silicon Hutong

Silicon Hutong a Must-Read Olympic Blog

In the Hutong

Well, it was looking nice earlier

1612 hrs.

IDG News was good enough to name Silicon Hutong one of the six blogs to read during the Olympics.

Those of you who have followed the Hutong for a while know that we've been in a higher gear since mid-May, and we're going to continue that pace through the Olympics.

If you're new to the Hutong and you've just found us because of the IDG article, welcome to the Hutong. Comments are welcome, as are e-mails and other forms of communication, so don't be shy.

H'ray - Ecto is back

Somewhere in Dongcheng

Gridlocked in the Old CIty

1207 hrs.

Finally back to using ecto after a long break, caused by issues between movable type, TypePad, and the upgraded ecto software. For those of you who have ever had to maintain a blog using a web interface only, you can imagine what a relief it is to be back to offline blogging.

I'm also looking into how this might help me in my search for a way to stay with TypePad yet increase my accessability in China. Will keep you posted.

Meantime, if you are a Mac user looking for good offline blogging software, give ecto 3 a look.

WSJ Database Marketing is a Dud

In the Hutong
Digging for my American Chopper DVDs
2127 hrs.

One of the great promises of computer technology was a thing called Database Marketing.

The theory behind database marketing is that a company with which you have a relationship will record information it learns about you and it will send you solicitations that will not only be relevant, but indeed will anticipate what you want.

So much for the theory.

Let's take, for a moment, the Wall Street Journal. I have had a long and mostly satisfying relationship with the publication for many years. I was one of the early subscribers to the electronic edition, and I've maintained that almost consistently since they began offering the service. ($339 per quarter to fly dead trees to my doorstep just seemed like a bad idea all around.)

You'd think they know me by now. They've got my billing information. They know where I live in China. They know what I do, how old I am, what I read, what my interests are, what I download, how much I make. They even know I'm a white male.

So when I get an invitation from the WSJ inviting me to a Career Fair (I own my own business, thanks), a "Diversity" career fare, no less (white man I am), in about two weeks at the very-inconvenient-to-me Embassy Suites Hotel Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia, I realize that either Dow Jones is totally incompetent at marketing, since they don't know the difference between "database marketing" and "SPAM," or they just don't care about who I am and don't care if I know it.

I'm starting to change my mind about Rupert Murdoch and Dow Jones. Surely their database marketing couldn't get much worse.

ATRE Redux

Starbucks Pacific Century Place, Beijing
Perfecting the Double Espresso Belch
1410 Hours.

I haven't been to an ATRE conference since I stopped working for a global mega-branding conglomerate that was happy to foot the bill to let me spend two days listening to talking heads speak to each other with no hope of interacting with the panelists. I haven't felt the worse for it: I don't see a lot of value in gabathons that base their format on allowing panelists and speakers to preen themselves, and since I'm not a compulsive networker, I get no value from ATRE's extended-break and cocktail-party schmooze-ins.

Their aggressive telemarketing is also a nice put-off, as is a conference-only admission price that could buy me a new MacBookPro and an HP Color LaserJet.

So when the spam - er, direct-marketing email-blast - for ARTE 07 in Mumbai landed in my email box, I was surprised to catch myself kind of pleased for Alex Vieux, ATRE's owner and the publisher of the resuscitated-but-still-on-life-support Red Herring magazine. Alex has bagged himself a whale, landing Steve Ballmer as the keynote for the show. Alex has worked hard to build ATRE and its European sister ETRE into a kind of Geek Davos, and landing Steve Ballmer as a keynote is an indication that he is having some success.

Either that, or Ballmer is running out of non-Microsoft conferences where he is feted onstage.

Alas, I'll be giving ATRE a pass again this year, choosing instead to hang at MOTODEV Asia and see what the future holds for mobile apps. Call me a dweeb if you must, but the idea of spending a day hanging out with entrepreneurs, designers, and coders sounds like a lot more fun than the more rarified company of CEOs and investment bankers.

Delta Airlines Should Fire Their PR People. Now.

In the Hutong
Watching the Markets
2139 hours.

In an absolutely unforgivable PR gaffe, Delta Airlines PR department or agency decided to have the airline's CFO do an remote interview about the company's emergence from bankruptcy in a loud, echoing hall filled with screaming Delta people. In the end, it was impossible for the CNBC anchors to conduct the interview because it was impossible for the Delta executive to hear anything. Holding both hands to his ears and smiling gamely, the executive hardly presented the image of confidence, competence, and cheer that would make me want to fly with them anytime soon.

Whoever in the Delta organization or agency suggested that setting for an interview deserves to be put on permanent waivers. The whole thing did hideous damage to Delta's image at a point where image is critical. Completely uninspiring, unnecessary, and unprofessional.

The Hutong on Type Pad

Welcome to Silicon Hutong on TypePad. I'm going to give this route a try, hoping against hope that the nannies don't close it down. If they do, I'm going to switch to my own hosting. But we'll give this one a try.