What a word! First person to get it into a conversation with me in the next week wins a fiver.

So, it’s official. We’re all just sheep in men and women’s clothing.

I reckon there’s a version of this you could do in men’s toilets. Actually, let’s not go any further with that.

How to write your elevator pitch:

For (target customer)
Who (statement of the need or opportunity)
The (product name) is a (product category)
That (key benefit, compelling reason to buy)
Unlike (primary competitive alternative)
Our product (statement of primary differentiation)

This is very useful for someone like me who tends to waffle more then Birds Eye.

I justified it to myself by calculating that with a 10 year guarantee, it only costs me 60 quid a year, or 5 quid a month to save my back from becoming totally knackered.

Joel Spolky takes it one step further in his book Smart and Gets Things Done – a useful book on hiring programmers which I read on the train to Bristol today. He’s using the Aeron as an example, but it’s the same sort of thing:

So the bottom line is that an Aeron only really costs $500 more over ten years, or $50 a year. One dollar per week per programmer.

A nice roll of toilet paper runs about a buck. Your programmers are probably using about one roll a week, each.

So upgrading them to an Aeron chair literally costs the same amount as you’re spending on their toilet paper, and I assure you that if you tried to bring up toilet paper in the budget committee you would be sternly told not to mess around, there were important things to discuss.

I’m sure this line of argument could be used for leverage in a wide range of budgetary disagreements if you really needed it to. I’m remembering this one.

I think the Brum social media cafe idea that was coming out is killer. I’d definitely join and will help out if I can. A few more thoughts have come to mind but I’ll post these later when I’ve thought them through.

It’s great to see such a thriving social media community in and around Birmingham. Loads of interesting new people to meet – see everyone next time.

This is great.

If you’re not familiar with the goings on in Digbeth, Birmingham then the basic story is that a few residents of brand new flats in Digbeth (well known capital of the Brum music scene) are complaining about the noise. The Spotted Dog is right in the firing line and is under threat of closing.

It’s all fairly idiotic. Check the Keep Digbeth Vibrant campaign for more.

Other than aim for a blockbuster hit, what can an artist do to escape the long tail?

One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans.

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

The only thing I disagree with is the number – I think you can do it with less. Emily Martin who I interviewed in the last New Media 4Cast is a brilliant example.

Just 12 months ago I was still getting really frustrated that everyone still seemed fixated on the idea that mass-market was the only way to survive.

The tide is definitely changing – partly because there are now so many good examples everywhere. Hooray to that!

I’d have loved it as a kid.

And of course, it’s open source and social. Do a search for Phun on YouTube to find hundreds of inventions.

Here’s the government’s new strategy for catching terrorists:

You can just hear the rubbing of image-doctoring hands in glee at seeing this.

Here’s my favourite so far :

by Mr Atrocity

And here are some more courtesy of Boing Boing. Lovely.

Here goes:

1. I play the bass and once got asked to do a tour of the UK and Japan with Fuzz Townsend (ex PWEI drummer) but it fell through. Another dream shattered.

2. I’ve done quite a bit of travelling over the years – my favourite trip was probably Moscow to Beijing on the Trans-Siberian railway. Amazing. Strangest point of the trip was ending up crammed into a Yurt with about 50 mongolians, drinking fermented mare’s milk, then being made to sing a song to everyone.

3. I am a reformed mathematician and programmer and have decided that working with people is far more interesting than working with ones and zeroes.

4. I’m a walking melting pot. My Mum’s an Italian Catholic, my Dad’s parents were ethnically Jewish (Russian and Polish) who converted to Quakerism.

5. I grew up hearing music all over the house; blaring Puccini from the kitchen, blaring jazz and world music from my dad’s room. I developed a love for music which remains till this day.

6. As well as being a digital media geek, I’m also fascinated by social enterprise, sustainable capitalism, ethical business and all that jazz. I think it might, just, be the way forward.

7. My first job was working for Maplin Electronics as a Saturday boy. Better than being sent up chimneys I guess.

8. I don’t have a TV, or a car. My life is far better without either.

OK, I tag  Nick, Fritha, Emily, Simon, Will, Thayer, Oli and Bobbie (right back at you!)