Dear DMEC Friends and Colleagues,

Happy New Year! With the birth of 2008 comes the birth of IndieGoGo. Eric Schell and I (DMEC’s 2007 Co-Mavens of Film and co-founders of IndieGoGo) invite you to join IndieGoGo’s vibrant community of filmmakers and fans.

IndieGoGo is an online social marketplace connecting filmmakers and fans to make independent film happen. The platform provides filmmakers the tools for project funding, recruiting, and promotion, while enabling the audience to discover and connect directly with filmmakers and the causes they support.

On IndieGoGo, filmmakers can raise money and awareness, find cast and crew, and gain credibility through the help of their number one resource, the fans.

Fans get the opportunity to discover and impact the films of tomorrow, while getting insider access and VIP perks for their support. It’s easy and fun!

Filmmakers who have already joined IndieGoGo include Irena Salina (”FLOW: For Love of Water,” 2008 Sundance selection), M dot Strange (”We Are the Strange,” 2007 Sundance selection), Christopher Roberts (”The Believer,” 2001 Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner), and Michealene Cristini Risley (”Tapestries of Hope;” Huffington Post Blogger).

If you would like to learn more about what’s possible, just follow the 3 steps outlined below. The more you take action, the cooler IndieGoGo becomes for everyone.

Enjoy making independent happen!

Best,
Danae Ringelmann & The IndieGoGo Team

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SIGN-UP:

• Go to www.indiegogo.com
• Sign-up for IndieGoGo by clicking on the Sign-up link in the Short Cuts window on the right side.
• Confirm registration via email and start exploring!

DISCOVER & PERSONALIZE:

• Click Around: Familiarize yourself. Read the “FAQs” and “How It Works” if you’re curious.
• Discover: Check out the Projects listing, People listing, Resource listing and MyGoGo pages. Click into Project & People profiles. Toggle through the Info, Media, Q&A, Team & Private sections. Watch videos, click on links, and have fun exploring! Check out the Take Action icons on the left.
• Create Personal Profile: Click on your Profile in the Short Cuts box and add some personal flavor. Include a cool pic & bio. Showcase your interests and tastes as a fan.

TAKE ACTION! (actions embedded in each profile on the left)

• PROMOTE projects you like (grab the widgets and stick them in your blog or websites).
• ENDORSE projects and people you like.
• RATE projects and people based on the different criteria.
• FUND the projects you would like to see made. Every little bit counts.
• BECOME A FRIEND of projects and people to gain insider access.
• COMMENT ON projects and people in their profiles. Ask questions. Do shout outs! Open up conversations with other filmmakers and fans.
• WATCHLIST: If you’re not ready to endorse or rate a project add them to your watchlist and follow their progress. Revisit your Watchlist on your MyGoGo page.
• GET VIP PERKS: Filmmakers decide what perks to offer their contributors. VIP Perks could include a credit in the film, an invite to a cast party or even a character named after you!
• CREATE PROJECT PROFILE: If you’re a filmmaker (or would like to be), create a project profile and use IndieGoGo’s platform to help bring it to life.
• SUBMIT FEEDBACK: If you have any problems or suggestions, please let us know by clicking Feedback or via email. We’re not perfect; help us get there!

Have fun making independent happen!

There was a news from the least expected quarters on the signs of what is yet to come in search. You wouldn’t expect National Association of Convenience Stores conference  to give you guidance on the future of search. In the recently concluded conference, Gilbarco Veeder-Root a supplies of fuel control systems for gas stations announced a system that lets gas station owners:

… display maps, find local listings, and even print driving directions and money-saving coupons from Gilbarco’s Encore® dispensers with color screens and the Applause™ media system. The live internet connection means all information is in real time. The Gilbarco® Applause™ media system is the first content management system that uses Google’s world-class open content infrastructure to deliver valuable information at the pump.

Many advertisers have been vying for the attention of the captive customers filling gas. Now this display system is meant to display “aps on the pump’s screen and locate their desired destinations. They can also search Google’s local business listings by category (restaurant, hospital, gift shop, etc.) to find the nearest choices. Once a destination is selected, consumers can also print the driving directions at the pump. Easy-to-read instructions are printed on the receipt printer, making it convenient to take them with them in the car.”

There is one catch that wasn’t mentioned in the press release but was pointed out by IWeek,

The Google service will be very limited initially. Using the pump’s touch pad, drivers will be able to choose a category, such as restaurants, hospitals, hotels, or landmarks, and then pick a listing and print a map to the location. Retailers will choose the listings.

This may sound like a limitation to most, but I see this as the emergence of UG search results.  Imagine a common open platform like this that is available for every community and individual. The members then start compiling search results that they think are relevant to particular queries. May be they even decide the Ads they think are relevant. Just like the Gas station managers who pick only those attractions and restaurants that are are close by, the user search generators will focus only on content that are relevant to the particular locale they are in.  The multiple planes of separation now you can get very interesting, locale, interests, gender, income level, ….

This is User generated search. Or is this Search2.0.

AdAge magazine reports that the Ad agency, Brooklyn Bros. shot what is believed to be the first carbon neutral TV commercial. The Ad agency developed a software that kept track of all the carbon generated by the cars, trucks, generators, lights, etc used in creating the commercial. They said that they generated 9 tonnes of carbon and paid $20 per ton to offset it. (I picked the photo above from Flickr that I found interesting and appropriate).

We already saw SimCity mixing global warming into their system. SecondLife can’t be far behind, selling carbon offsets for LindeX.
What is next in mixing carbon neutral living and digital media?

1. Your cellphone network becomes carbon neutral. In addition to charging you overage for minutes you will also get carbon overage.
2. Carbon Neutral channel on Cable. All programs must be certified carbon neutral, and the Ads too.
3. BestBuy starts selling carbon neutral TV. It never turns on.
4. RadioHead releases a carbon neutral album, same old name your price, this time hosted on a website powered by power generated by crank turning delirious RadioHead fans who paid $300 for the album.
5. Bloggers start paying for carbon offsets for using too much of electricity in producing all those posts.
6. Google search results show carbon score for each web page listed. In addition to relevancy you can customize the search results to show first those sites that are carbon neutral.
7. Social networking sites for all those who are carbon neutral. Add to that dating sites that match you with others of same carbon profile.

Technorati Tags: carbon offsets, carbon neutral, sustainability, carbon neutral commercial, carbon neutral media

>play conference has a panel on social networking to talk about the exponential growth of social networking sites.  I want to ask the following questions:

1. Does size (of your network) matter?
2. Is it friend or connection? Just because some call the link as friend, does the chance acquaintance elevate to friendship?
3. Does it matter whether the connection is labeled friend or network? Do the words and meanings evolve and we don’t get too hung up on strict meanings?
4. Do I have to be member of every platform, just to be safe?
5. Since these platforms derive their sustenance only from their members can we expect any of them to open up their interfaces to allow meta-platforms to develop?
6. Who owns your network? You? I think it is the platform, just like ChoicePoint that owns your credit score  even though you are the one working hard to build it.
7. How are the business models evolving? Ads, Membership fee, partner services, transactional fees,  what next?
8. Can Facebook justify its current valuation?
9. All of the current platforms are eager to add everyone in your Yahoo, GMail, MSN etc address books as your friend/connection, so why haven’t these big players who were already sitting on this address book data did not create an automatic network?
10. Do you want to be friends with me?

Technorati Tags: social networking, facebook, linkedin, >play, berkeley, friendster, network