Endless Innovation

Molotov Alva: an innovative film within Second Life

While the initial hype surrounding virtual worlds such as Second Life has somewhat faded over the past year, it's exciting to see that CINEMAX plans to run a 10-part documentary film about Second Life ("Molotov Alva and His Search for the Creator: A Second Life Odyssey") starting this Thursday. It's innovative enough to do a film about virtual worlds, but what makes this film especially stand out is that it is shot entirely inside Second Life, machinima-style.

Last year, I had the unique opportunity to work with a talented machinima director on a similar type of project for a major client, and it's really extraordinary the effort and time that goes into filming inside Second Life. There are sets, actors, scripts -- basically, anything that goes into making a traditional film. Mad props to Douglas Gayeton for getting this film made and finding a cable TV sponsor (CINEMAX) bold enough to show it.

[image: Molotov Alva]

The best business gurus in the world

The Wall Street Journal recently unveiled its picks for the best business gurus in the world. These gurus - led by Gary Hamel, Thomas Friedman, Bill Gates and Malcolm Gladwell - regularly command $75,000 speaking fees and million-dollar book deals, in addition to the undying appreciation of top corporate CEOs around the world. While most of the names in the Top 20 are instantly recognizable to just about anyone who picks up FORTUNE or Business Week from time to time, there were definitely a few names that sent me scurrying to Google to find out more (Ikujiro Nonaka, anyone?).

[image: Big Ideas]

Charlie Rose interviews himself on the future of technology

Even if you're a Charlie Rose fan, you'll have to admit that this is brilliant: Charlie Rose interviews himself on the future of technology. It sounds a bit like a Samuel Beckett play, and that's the point, according to filmmaker Andrew Filippone, Jr.:

"Something has happened to PBS favorite "Charlie Rose." The erudite conversations and sober intellectualism have been replaced by an absurd world where illogic, inane dialogues, and open hostility rule. The one-on-one interview between Charlie and his guest begins as usual but quickly goes awry..."

Google. Google. Radiohead. Blogs. Google. Google. Google. Google. Microsoft and Yahoo. Google. Microsoft and Yahoo. Google. I've watched this several times now, and I can't stop from smiling.

[video: Charlie Rose Interviews Himself]

The WWE and Blue Ocean Strategy

The amount of innovation and creativity coming out of the WWE continues to amaze me. Thinking back to the groundbreaking book Blue Ocean Strategy, I think the WWE has found a "blue ocean" in the area between sports and entertainment, similar to how Cirque du Soleil (the classic blue ocean strategy company) found a "blue ocean" in the area between Broadway entertainment and the circus. On Monday - just hours before the all-important Pennsylvania primary - the WWE somehow arranged for all three Presidential candidates to give a big shout to their fans:

"The night before the Pennsylvania primary, presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain made a very special appearance on a three-hour edition of Raw on USA Network Monday night. This appearance sent media outlets around the globe - from The New York Times to CNN - into a frenzy. Tapping into Monday Night Raw's viewership of more than five million viewers, Democratic senators Clinton and Obama appealed for votes from WWE fans in Pennsylvania, where they are locked in a tight primary battle..."

At one time, the very thought of presidential candidates appearing on a show like WWE would have been unimaginable. Now, it just seems like savvy political positioning. This story was picked up by nearly every major media outlet, meaning that the WWE scored an unprecedented, huge PR breakthrough. A big hat tip to my colleagues at Electric Artists who continue to roll out interesting new promotions for the WWE!

[video: WWE Clinton/Obama/McCain]

The most brilliant thinkers in the world

The May 2008 issue of Portfolio magazine ("the brilliant issue") has a listing of the 73 most brilliant thinkers in business - the rebels, upstarts, game changers and connectors who are changing the way we think about business. There are some familiar names, of course - Steven Spielberg, Rupert Murdoch & Lloyd Blankfein - but also a number of people you may not have heard of, like Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey of 23andMe. (Actually, come to think of it, you may have heard of Anne Wojcicki - she's the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin!)

[image: Portfolio's "Brilliant Issue"]

Eliot Spitzer to become new CEO of Cloud 9 online dating service?

In the end, this was probably inevitable, given his deep connections to the more nefarious "players" in Washington and New York political circles... Former New York "Luv Guv" Eliot Spitzer recently announced plans to become the CEO of new online dating site Cloud 9 (an obvious reference to his former distinction as Client #9). Spitzer spokesperson April Won is already calling the site "a mix between social networking site Facebook and online dating site eHarmony.com" for well-connected politicians and socialites.

In an era in which Martha Stewart can emerge from prison an even bigger celebrity than when she left, and disgraced public figures profit from their misdoings by writing tell-all biographies or appearing in tawdry made-for-TV specials, it's perhaps a sign of the Web 2.0 times that Spitzer chose to throw his considerable "star power" behind an untested Silicon Valley start-up.

[image: New York Daily News]

JetBlue founder David Neeleman to launch Brazilian start-up airline

The founder of JetBlue, David Neeleman, recently announced plans to launch a new Brazilian airline. As the New York Times points out, Neeleman has a Brazilian passport and speaks fluent Portuguese, so the move is more logical than it might sound. Plus, the Brazilian economy is one of the world's great emerging markets, so it's easy to see that the creation of millions of middle-class Brazilians will lead to surging demand for a cool, hip Brazilian JetBlue.

[image: David Neeleman in Sao Paulo]

Bohemian Rhapsody, the Wall Street re-mix

For those of you who been following the whole sub-prime meltdown on Wall Street and the spectacular collapse of legendary investment bank Bear Stearns this week... a Bear Stearns employee has re-mixed the lyrics of the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" to describe the current fiasco on Wall Street:

SING TO THE TUNE OF 'BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY' BY QUEEN

Is this the real price?
Is this just fantasy?
Financial landslide
No escape from reality 

Open your eyes
And look at your buys and see.
I'm now a poor boy (poor boy)
High-yielding casualty
Because I bought it high, watched it blow
Rating high, value low
Any way the Fed goes
Doesn't really matter to me, to me

Mama - just killed my fund
Quoted CDO's instead
Pulled the trigger, now it's dead
Mama - I had just begun
These CDO's have blown it all away 
Mama - oooh-hoo-ooo
I still wanna buy
I sometimes wish I'd never left Goldman at all.

(guitar solo)

~~~

I see a little silhouette of a Fed
Bernanke! Bernanke! Can you save the whole market?
Monolines and munis - very very frightening me!
Super senior, super senior
Super senior CDO - magnifico

I'm long of subprime, nobody loves me
He's long of subprime CDO fantasy
Spare the margin call you monstrous PB!
Easy come easy go, will you let me go?
Peloton! No - we will not let you go - let him go
Peloton! We will not let you go
(let him go !)
Peloton! We will not let you go - let me go
Will not let you go
let me go (never) Never let you go - let me go Never let me go – ooo
No, no, no, no, No, NO, NO ! -
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go
S&P had the devil put aside
for me
For  me, for me, for me

~~~

So you think you can fund me and spit in my eye?
And then margin call me and leave me to die Oh PB - can't do this to me
Just gotta get out - just gotta get right outta here

Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
No price really matters
No liquidity
Nothing really matters - no price really matters to me
Any way the Fed goes.....

A big hat tip to Barry Ritholtz of The Big Picture!

[video: "Bohemian Rhapsody"]

Starbucks and the 21st Century Suggestion Box

When in doubt as to how to run your business, open up the floor to the crowd. Companies like Dell and Delta have already experimented with these "online suggestion boxes" and now Starbucks is looking for new ideas from members of the wider Starbucks community. Under pressure from investors to prop up a sagging stock price, Starbucks just launched the site My Starbucks Idea. There's coverage of the new Starbucks site on Wired and Mashable, and a (very brief) mention of it in today's Wall Street Journal.

[image: My Starbucks Idea]

"Not Our Best Work"

Many companies ask their customers to tell them what they're doing right or what they'd like to see more of. This is a classic positive feedback loop, in which positive behavior is rewarded with even more positive behavior. What happens, though, when companies ask their customers to tell them what they've done wrong? TIME Magazine has a fun little feature on its website, asking readers to pick the worst TIME Magazine cover of all time. (After 85 years in business, I guess TIME feels comfortable with a little self-deprecating humor)

Whatever you do, please don't click on this TIME cover from 1981. You'll forever lose any respect for journalistic integrity. (What? You clicked on that cover? Then, please, please, don't click on this cover)

[image: TIME Magazine covers]