Archive: September, 2008

Drifting off to sleep last night I knew it would be a weird morning when I woke but I had no idea exactly how weird it would be. I not expect the two pieces of news that greeted me when I logged on.

The first bit of news that slightly shocked my world comes from New York City. Incisive Media, the company which owns the Search Engine Strategies Conferences announced Kevin Ryan was being laterally shifted away from the programming of SES to chairing its advisory board. In his place, Stewart Quealy has been promoted to the position of VP of Content Development. Steward is now responsible for creating conference programming for all SES events including SES shows, webcasts and training courses. Assisting Stewart will be Marilyn Crafts who has been promoted to Stewart’s former position of Sr. Program Director. Kevin Ryan will continue to be a major player at SES. Kevin will continue as a public face of the conference series and will continue to speak, keynote, and lead the popular Orion Sessions. He is now chairman of the SES Advisory Board.

On Wednesday, Metamend Reputation Management expert David Howell was a guest on the WebmasterRadio.fm show Domain Masters. Hosted by domain management company Moniker, Domain Masters is one of the highest rated shows on the WebmasterRadio network.

In the episode, David gets into the trenches explaining how reputation and brand management services are performed and why businesses online and offline need to think about professional brand and reputation protection.

There is an interesting side-note about the conversation. In our work providing Reputation Management and Brand Protection, David and Metamend often have to interact with domain management companies in regards to the behaviour of their clients. Moniker is one of the largest domain management companies in the world. Luckily, it is (in our experience) also one of the most conscientious. Had he been interviewed by any other domain management company, the conversation might have been very different and far less incisive.

Click on the link below to listen in:

Webmaster Radio
	Brand Protection and Reputation Management Show: Domain Masters

T-Mobile is set to introduce the first mobile phone powered by Google’s Android software at a press conference in New York on Tuesday. The new smartphone, known as the HTC Dream Phone or G1, should be available to consumers by the end of October. Its debut will mark a turning point in both Google’s history (the announcement falls on the day Google celebrates its 10th birthday) and in the history of the Internet itself. The G1 phone might or might not be the device that moves a bulk of users to mobile but it does push the herd closer to migration. It also poses serious challenges to Apple’s iPhone and to Microsoft in general.

Google’s move into the mobile space is part of a collaborative effort. In November of last year, Google formed the Open Handset Alliance, ostensibly to promote open-source standards for mobile devices. T-Mobile and HTC along with 30 other firms with mobile interests including Motorola, Intel, Sprint Nextel, and Texas Instruments make up the Open Handset Alliance. (List of OHA members)

Google co-founder Sergey Brin might have opened a personal blog at too.blogspot.com/.

The “too” blog was first reported in TechCrunch and noted in CNET News and Search Engine Land. At the time of this post there is no confirmation from Brin or from Google that he is in fact the actual author.

If the blog is authentic Brin choose to use his second post to disclose a deeply personal fact. Through his wife’s company 23andMe, Brin has discovered he carries a gene mutation that might predispose him to Parkinson’s Disease. The post, which is timestamped 12:01PM, ends noting how knowing now allows him to adjust his lifestyle to hopefully alleviate the worst effects of the disease or avoid it altogether. With respect to the subject and the author, it also reads like an endorsement for 23andMe. There is no link to 23andMe in the post though 2 links near the bottom lead to the Michael J. Fox Foundation and The Parkinson’s Institute.

Brin’s first post, timestamped 12:00PM, explained the meaning to the Blog’s name, “too”.