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I’m certainly not making any revolutionary statement here to say that the mobile sector as we know it is changing. And fast. Voice, text (and to some extent, data), are as commoditised as the most widespread of natural resources. The answers to the challenge lie in joined-up digital experiences.

I’m talking about events and experiences which transcend devices and networks, which allow you to really experience the beauty of being always-on. Mobile-aside, one of the biggest areas for disruption is TV. Whether we’re talking second-screen interactions or connected tv’s, the sector is beginning to innovate in a big way.

So, i was delighted to get an invite to the Wired pop-up store event next week, sponsored by Samsung, to get a sneak-peak at the new Smart TV. If Kinect caught your imagination, imagine interacting with your tv in the same way. If anyone represents the future of technology, i’d say Wired is it - and i’m hoping the shop will showcase a ton of other technologies shaking things up.

 

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I’ve embedded below, the bulk of my presentation from the brilliant somecomms conference yesterday where I looked at trends in social media and where this year was already heading.

Insights Eleven

Also worth a real good read is this from Rob aka Northern Comfort, someone who I almost had the privilege of working with when I was selling my semantic search engine monitoring tool (!!), but who has nailed a massive theme from somecomms - that you should forget the technology and look to understand the behaviours and use whatever technology allows you to meet those behaviours.
Enjoy.

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   I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to this Sunday’s Travelling Geeks even on Sunday 5th July in London. My travel arrangements are all falling in to place and then, the good folk at Firefly Comms (Mike in particular!) agreed to let me offer a FREE ticket on my blog. Ok, so at £20, the tickets aren’t exactly expensive, but free is free right?!

To enter the competition, all you need to do is:

1. Leave a comment in the comments below

OR

2. RT the competition on Twitter.

3. Be available to attend the event this Sunday, 5th July.

 

For those that haven’t heard of Travelling Geeks:

The mission of Travelling Geeks is to collaborate with technology innovators and influencers in various regions of the world, then share what we’ve learned through blogging, video, podcasts, social media tools and meet-ups.

Our hope is that we can inform, educate and connect on behalf of innovators who are changing the world with like-minded people on the planet. Trips are funded by sponsorships from corporations and governments.

 

The idea behind the UK trip is:

to spotlight innovative uses of new technologies in Great Britain, especially by little-known companies or in new initiatives, and how those innovations may improve people’s lives. Bloggers will explore how edge innovation and thought leadership in Great Britain compare with what’s taking place in Silicon Valley

Oh…and check out who the Travelling Geeks are:

  • Robert Scoblw, @scobleizer
  • Craig Newmark, @craignewmark
  • Sarah Lacy, @sarahcuda
  • Howard Reingold, @hrheingold
  • Meghan Asha, @meghan
  • JD Lasica, @jdlasica
  • Tom Foremski, @tomforemski
  • Sarah Austen, @pop17
  • Susan Bratton, @susanbratton
  • Jeff Saperstein, Creatingregionalwealth.com
  • Renee Blodgett,  @MagicSauceMedia
  • Jim "Call Me Sky" Schuyler, @jimsky7

 

Tjis is going to be a seriously well-attended event, but all you need to do is 1 or 2 above and I’ll announce the winner on Friday (your name will be on the door so you don’t need to worry about tickets etc.)

Good luck!

Technorati Tags: travelling geeks,travelinggeeks,tguk
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Steve posted this video from Herb as a reminder that Thinking Digital is coming up again soon. That yours truly can offer no original thought or insights to appear on stage is not the issue (although I do appear in the video talking - no surprise there!) but as an attendee from 2008 I cannot recommend the event highly enough.

To book, click here.

What is Thinking Digital? from Herbert Kim on Vimeo.

The speakers at the event do a great job in summarising last year’s event, but none better than Sean Phelan, founder of Multimap “it’s TED for the North East” - Insightful, Stimulating, Educational and Though-Provoking.

Read my review of Thinking Digital from last year and my subsequent follow-up not long ago.

  • Sky News cover Thinking Digital
  • Get to see The Future
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Like Steve, (and THANKS to Steve!), I was reminded about Thinking Digital in Gateshead last year. Herb also got in touch recently to remind me of this year’s event.

Herb and the team have a great event on their hands in Thinking Digital and last year really set a high bar - all centred around THINKING digital. You can book tickets for this year’s event through the widget on the left.

I’ve got to say, seeing Tara and Steve again were two main drivers for me going last year. Tara spoke about Happiness as a business model (preso below) and Steve was demo’ing some great new technologies from Microsoft. Fab stuff.

BUT, as I posted last year, the work of Jonathan Harris just blew me away and even today, recall with astonishment, his stunning work. I can’t recommend looking at his work enough. Truly inspiring stuff.

And a sample of Jonathan’s work:

Despite leaving in a blur of Citroen C2 tyre smoke (to attend the North West Big Chip Awards) thanks to the event, my mind was full of “what-ifs”; thinking about digital in a very different, conceptual and philosophical way rather than in a functional, sales or promotional way. Herb and the team deserve a lot of credit for taking this angle.

For such a technology-centric event, thought, emotion and love played significant roles in the topics discussed but the balance was very well struck.

If last year is anything to go by, this year will be as equally exciting.

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