David Bolton wonders: How far has recording come, and where is it going?
When we think of music, what comes to mind? Are we Gaga for the latest pop hit or is music more than a feeling?
Superstars with inflated egos or earnest young men making sounds that capture the mood and emotion of the moment? Do we think iTunes, downloads or MySpace? Or can we still remember vinyl and eight tracks, a time before CDs and Mp3s? Do we ever think of the session musician, seeking not for fame and fortune but a regular paycheck?
Music and technology have enjoyed a very special relationship over the years. The basics of sound reproduction have been known since the 9th Century, but the invention of the phonograph cylinder in 1877 by Thomas Edison, a true East Coaster, allowed for the recordings to be played back aurally at an individuals’ convenience. Groundbreaking experiments in electricity in the 1920’s further enhanced the technology and radio transmissions ensured that mass consumption of recorded and live sound recordings could be heard. Read more…
BzzAgent is changing the way brands treat consumers
Boston’s recent warm weather streak has brought the college students out of winter hibernation.
Stand in a high-traffic spot on any campus in town and you’ll see them. Armed with iPods and Blackberries, they are on the move and totally plugged in from the time they leave their dorms to the time they return. The question is, how do you interrupt them and get them to pay attention to your brand these days?
The answer: You don’t.
College students, the majority of the Generation Y population, will never be responsive to traditional advertising campaigns. They’ve become accustomed to the thousands of advertisements infiltrating their personal space on a daily basis, and they’ve learned to tune them out.
College students aren’t the only consumers out there, no. But they’re a big demographic that a long list of people are trying to reach. Marketers have unsuccessfully tried over and over again to target this crowd, which has been accused of being unresponsive and entitled. Is marketing to Gen Y a lost cause?
No. It’s not a lost cause, but it will forever remain a challenge — a challenge that Boston startup BzzAgent helps clients like Dunkin Donuts, National Geographic, and Lee Jeans face every day. Instead of forcing advertisements on consumers, BzzAgent is taking a different approach and are letting the consumer do the talking. Dave Balter, Founder and CEO of BzzAgent gave me the breakdown of how his company works on a telephone interview this week. Read more…
New Leaf Legal, Boston-born and currently located in WorkBar on Atlantic Avenue, is a brand new firm of young lawyers out to make a difference in the entrepreneurial world by being entrepreneurs themselves.
It’s nothing new. Lawyers start firms all the time. But that doesn’t mean they diverge from the practices in use at massive law firms when they strike out on their own. That’s where New Leaf differs. (Hence the name.)
“[Being a startup] gives us a real opportunity to relate,” says Jessica Manganello, a corporate law specialist at New Leaf. “We’ve worked with a lot of startups, and the fact that we’re doing this ourselves takes the ‘ivory tower’ element out of it. We can relate.” Read more…
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of hearing Dave McClure speak twice in Cambridge: First, at Dogpatch Labs, and later, at the MIT Stata Center. If you don’t know of Dave, he describes himself as “a sh***y coder in the ’80s, a crappy entrepreneur in the ’90s, a decent startup marketer, and a pretty good angel investor.”
If you were unable to attend either of the events, you can watch them at the bottom of this post in a pair of videos courtesy of our pals over at DartBoston.
If you are a softy when it comes to bad language and keepin’ it real, then Dave’s talks probably aren’t for you. After a year full of stodgy, white-haired, B.S. “networking” events here in the Bay State, I have to say hearing Dave mix in a few F-bombs with truly insightful “Web 2.0″ startup advice was a breath of fresh air. Read more…
Last night, Mass Innovation Nights was back at the Charles River Museum in Waltham and they made a few changes for the 12th installment of the monthly startup showcase. Presentations were moved to the ballroom which was a great improvement from the old presentation corner that brought out the worst in my claustrophobia. Demo tables were dispersed throughout the museum which was a bit fragmented but well worth the space created for the main presenters. As always we’ve got all you no-shows covered with a recap of main presentations and the demo tables. Read more…
I’m sick of pretending to know which wines to pick. In fact, I’m also sick of butchering French pronunciations. Ka-berr-NAY SOH-vi-YON anyone?
If you’re anything like me, you love a good wine but you’re definitely not a snob. And you don’t have the time or patience to acquire all the knowledge necessary to navigate wine racks or read wine lists with complete confidence.
Wine novices of the world, there’s an iPhone app to solve your worries.
Co-founder Jim McNamee of Massachusetts-based Hello Vino says the app is designed to help the “average wine consumer who might have trouble making a confident selection when browsing that [all-too-familiar and often intimidating] wall of wine.”
They’re basically doing for wine what the calculator did for math — With minimal input, Hello Vino does the heavy lifting. Read more…
Bill Warner of Warner Research and TechStars Boston
The State of Angel Capital in the Bay State was on trial last night at the Vilna Shul cultural center on Beacon Hill at an event dubbed “The State of Angel Finance.”
Surrounded by four centuries of Jewish history, Bill Warner (Warner Research Group), David Frankel (Founder Collective), and Joe Caruso (Bantam Group) joined approximately 50 local entrepreneurs for a discussion about the current need for angel financing for startup companies in New England.
The verdict? Inconclusive.
Warner, a leading voice in the Boston entrepreneurial community, moderated the discussion, which revolved more around general fundraising challenges than angel finance specifically and ended with a call for Boston entrepreneurs to “go make more angels.” Read more…
The panel kicked off with an in-depth discussion of mobile networks, specifically, conversation about the how the technology powering your cell phone signal is improving. With 4G networks, we’ll get more wi-fi integration, bandwidth and speed. What does this mean for your cell phone? Faster application downloads and fewer calls dropped. Read more…
With HomeField, players no longer need to cram into ill-equipped screening rooms to watch game film
As web startups continue to reshape the way we live our lives, I’m always wondering what the next application is going to revolutionize. If you are or were ever an athlete in college or high school, then this one’s for you: Meet HomeField, the new web application that changes the way coaches, players, and fans access and interact with team sport video footage.
HomeField mixes YouTube-style video uploading with social networking features, resulting in an interactive platform where sports teams can watch game footage, tag specific parts of the game, and discuss the videos in a private forum.
It used to be that a musty locker room and a TV-DVD combo was the only way for coach to give you pointers on the last game, or to size up the competition for the game coming up. Reece Pacheco, HomeField’s CEO, played lacrosse at Brown and later for the Boston Cannons, so he knows all too well the inconvenience of having to pile the whole team into a room for film study Read more…
Thursday, March 11 marks the first day of the brand new Tech Hub Foosball League. If you haven’t heard, it’s an awesome new endeavor BostInnovation is spearheading along with Boston-based startup Pinyadda and Cambridge-based communications firm EchoDitto.
It’s part of a new initiative to promote social activity among the best and brightest in Boston’s tech and startup scene.
While the big tournament, which promises serious foosball action and prizes, isn’t for another six weeks, BostInnovation and Pinyadda are kicking off the project tomorrow with beer, food and foosball.
Here’s a list of companies being represented by teams at tomorrow’s practice round: Read more…
