Aran Hamilton

Photo

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:18:35 -0500

Photo

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:11:43 -0500

Photo

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:49:43 -0500

Photo

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:40:14 -0500

Ok. Path. I get it.

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:59:45 -0500

Ok. Path. I get it.

How Stephen Harper is Out-Obama-ing Michael Ignatieff

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:05:00 -0400

It’s 2011.

I’m not sure if you are all aware of this news. It’s not 2007. It’s not even 2008.

You are not to be blamed if you’ve gotten confused based on the fact that the Canadian election is being fought like a bad pre-internet re-run.

I thought we all learned in 2008. I thought Barack Obama and his Facebook-founding guru Chris Hughes taught us all how it should be done. I saw countless speaking engagements at which social media experts gave the 20:20 post mortem of how Obama had won the election by engaging with grass-roots people and building a movement.

I remember hearing about a system by Blue State Digital, a platform that was product-ised out of Obama’s last campaign and was supposed to be available for use by socially progressive parties worldwide.

So pardon my incredulity when I ask “Weren’t they listening??”

I predicted publicly to everyone that would listen back in October/November that an election was in the air. I’m not clairvoyant, so I figure that the Liberal Party of Canada knew this election was coming too.

It takes quite a while to build a website, and the Conservative Party seems to know how to get it done…and I gotta tell you: whoever designed the site for the Liberal Party of Canada should be (gently) fired.

If only we had a benchmark… wait! We have several!

Obama has conveniently just (TODAY) released his new website for the 2012 election. Wait… What??!?! Yes, that’s right, in preparation for the Nov. 6, 2012 election, Obama’s team has already released their organizing site.

The Conservative Party of Canada had a website as of July 2008 that had more social media links than the Liberal Party site has today. Facebook, front and centre.

Let’s look at Obama’s front page (launched today, April 4, 2011)

Simple. Clean. Effective.

Two buttons at the top make it easy to GET INVOLVED and DONATE NOW.

Neither is more important than the other. Obama doesn’t want just want rich people’s money. He wants you to get involved (arguably if you read left to right, he wants you to get involved first!)

And then he’s asking you a simple hip question. “Are you in?” It’s a hip, catchy phrase, not unlike the “Adidas:All In” campaign out there right now. Importantly, Obama asks you right up front to declare where you are, and they make it easy to do so, by allowing you to declare your intentions to be “In” on Facebook.

So far, 19 million people have declared themselves to be in.

He has 19 million declarations of support on Day 1.

A stimulating video is followed by links to Get Involved, Volunteer, Visit the Store, and Donate.

The Store has some cool looking swag, and the Donation page has the basic info in an easy to fill out form, with info on how to send cheques in in case you don’t trust the interwebs.

More Importantly, the GET INVOLVED link is doing all the things the Obama did last time, that everyone said that smart people would do this time…

Ask You Again: Are You In?
Latest Updates About the Campaign (in this case, Day 1)
Events (you can attend)
Groups (you can join)
Grassroots Fundraising (you can raise!)
Volunteer (again - we want your time, not just your money)
Become A Summer Organizer (apply now to join!)

There are links to discussions, tools to help you share the materials you see (Twitter, Facebook, email only because those are the main ones that count)

SO - who has learned from 2008? Not the Liberal Party with its deep connections to the Democrats to our south. It’s the Conservatives.

While I’m not thrilled about the top of their site, it’s not as simple as Obama’s, they have slightly different purposes. We have to understand that Obama’s site is only trying to get people involved and Harper’s team has moved further into educating on policy etc. I think they can do a better job - because I don’t think policy should completely squeeze out visitor-engagement in today’s day and age. But still - LOOK: they’re already trying to get people out to vote in the advance polls!

Scrolling down the Conservative site you see some other great tools.

Ok - so they’re slightly prioritizing donations over getting people involved, but boy do they do a great job of it. Their donations page explains how to contribute online, by mail, by fax - and it explains CLEARLY - that the regulations allow you to donate up to a maximum of $1100 to the National Party AND another $1100 to a riding association (or candidate campaign) directly. They have tools like a donation tax receipt calculator (an awful lot of what you give can be written-off!)

And when you want to get involved in the Conservative campaign, look how easy it is: 7 little fields. The Liberal Party expects people to fill in 16 fields (some might be optional, but they don’t say so).

Both Parties and leaders offer you the opportunity to “like” them on Facebook, and both appear to be fairly equally liked. Harper and Ignatieff both getting in the high 40,000 likes, and both Parties getting around 12,000 likes.

But that’s where the comparison ends.

Stephen Harpers Conservatives seem to “get it”. Like Obama’s campaign, they seem to really want you to get involved and they want to empower you to help them win!

A link to a microsite titled ToryNation.ca seems to be where the pedal meets the metal. According to the site, Tory Nation is a 24/7 virtual campaign office. Apparently if you sign in, you get full access to your own online action centre to help: Spread the Conservative message, Find Events nearby, Raise Money, Connect with other Conservatives, and Recruit Volunteers.

I can see nothing like this on the Liberal Party site. Nothing at all.

And finally, the Conservative site also has an advantage over the Liberal site in that it has a swag store where you can buy Conservative gear including a Stephen Harper bobblehead, memory sticks, t-shirts, decals, bracelets, everything you can think of with the Conservative-logo on it… if you’ve got a gang coming over to “talk Tory”, why not buy some swag to give away or sell to them?

… If you’re interested, here are some screen shots of the Liberal Party website…

Let’s ignore the fact that I’d never allow the candidate to be photographed with such bad posture, I’d not use the shot as the main one on the website. Hey, I’m out of shape too, but I know to be photographed wearing a jacket. Let’s ignore the colour scheme being over-weighted in black. Let’s ignore the HTML errors that cause text boxes to run over each other.

The call to action to get involved is just not clear and certainly not simple.

The donation page does not show that I can fax in donations, though it does have a phone number (down, down, down at the bottom right-hand corner of the page). The site does NOT explain that you can donate up to $1100 to the National Party and up to another $1100 to candidates.

Most importantly, the Liberal site doesn’t allow people to feel like the campaign would be *their* campaign. Obama is asking me if I’m “In”, and Harper is allowing me to join “Tory Nation” and invite my friends to do so as well. Ignatieff’s Liberals seem to want to show me how complicated things are, with a lot of little text on the screen, and a heavy focus on policy, but little real engagement, and no empowering of people.

I’m really surprised. They don’t “get it”. And I think in a race this close, it’s going to make a big difference if they can’t build their grassroots support and fundraising. The only question that remains is:

Why?

Wasn’t 3 years enough time to fully read the April 1, 2009 Fast Company cover article on Chris Hughes and figure out exactly how to do what Obama did the last time?

Eric Kacou - Entrepreneurial Solutions for Prosperity for Base of the Pyramid Markets

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:10:45 -0400

This is Eric Kacou - a really smart guy working hard to help developing countries help themselves - through entrepreneurial solutions.

He’s speaking in Toronto Tuesday, March 15th - Check out his site and book.

Home | Entrepreneurial Solutions for Prosperity in BoP Markets by Eric Kacou

No-one should go around with a cold neck!

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:45:00 -0400

Merel Karhof is a pretty cool designer - obviously fascinated by the wind and harnessing the power of the wind. I love this latest project - a wind-powered scarf knitting machine I think I might just make one of these myself! I spent 20 minutes today digging around the house looking for a scarf…

What else might I make (or have made for me) by a wind machine?

Check out the wind knitting factory for more info.

My Rant About the Upcoming "battle": RIM Playbook vs. iPad 2

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 11:30:00 -0500

I’ve held my tongue a lot over the upcoming Playbook - partially because I know a lot of people at RIM, I respect them, I respect what they do, and (yeah, you got me…) they’re Canadian and I want to support them.

I was disappointed by the delay with launching. I mean, seriously, the gang at Apple are not *that* brilliant are they? Can they seriously launch iPad mark 2 before RIM even gets one out of the gate? RIM pre-announced the Playbook ages ago… obviously to try to build some excitement that they would eventually launch a tablet.

But where the heck has it been? Why so long? The corporate claim that they pre-announced it to help corporate customers to build playbooks into their budgets?? HOW DUMB DO WE LOOK?!

No-one. Not a single corporate IT guy turned to his their CIO boss and said “Hey, how many of those un-seen, un-tested, un-demanded by the sales team Playbooks do you want to budget for whenever they come out?”

That’s not the way it works. You build something cool, I get excited. I tell my IT guys I want it. They say “No. it’s not secure and we didn’t budget for it and we haven’t tested it and it’s a toy” until a year or so passes and then they relent. I’m no CIO, but I’m pretty sure THAT’S HOW CORPORATIONS BUDGET FOR NEW TYPES OF EQUIPMENT.

That’s why the iPads will accelerate in sales this year…. but back to the RIM Playbook.

Ok - so the specs look “fine”. It’s smaller - i dunno about that. Thinner would be cooler - but not having a smaller screen size… when it comes to screen-sizes, well, they’re kinda like cars and horsepower. I might not need more when I’m driving to work most days, but it feels good to have it. If I wanted an iPad with a smaller screen size, I’d buy an iPhone.

Wait - the new RIM Playbook doesn’t have 3G or 4G? Check that - If I wanted a WiFi iPad with a smaller screen size, I’d buy an iPod Touch… ouch, that hurts to say out loud!

But seriously, no 3G? Tethering through my RIM Blackberry? Ugh. Ok. Not *as* cool. Let me carry a cable, or mess around with Bluetooth. Sigh.

I still say that the reason my wife and I bought our house was because I received a link to a house listing while we were driving around one day. I clicked the link, it opened in google maps (streetview), we liked what we saw and we swung by the place and fell in love, put in an offer a couple of days later—before we’d really figured out what the heck was going on! My iPad with 3G coverage re-defined the concept of “an impulse buy”.

So - what else you got RIM? Oh, secure email? Yeah- guess what? That ship has sailed. Email is NOT secure. Very rarely do I send anything that I can’t afford to have show up in a newspaper the next day.

Wait? You’re planning a big launch? Cool. Will Charlie Sheen be there? What’s that? You’re launching through Sears Canada? You’re kidding right? Now you’re just screwing with me…

The gang over at Tablet Planet had this great article to get me started today:

Canada Born RIM Launching 7-inch BlackBerry Tablet In Own Backyard On April 10th? | Tablets Planet

It's about time!

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:33:26 -0500

Optimizely is an idea that should have come to fruition a long time ago. Founded by a couple of ex-Googlers (Xooglers), Optimizely helps you optimize your site by simply showing some of your customers random versions of it (slightly different) and helping you ensure that the bulk of your visitors see the best site possible. They cut their teeth optimizing the Obama election sites… i guess they did ok since they helped raise buckets of cash for him. Check out Optimizely: A/B Testing you’ll actually use

A great example of supporting your child’s inner artist!

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 09:53:40 -0500

When 10 year old Gracie Zenz decided she wanted to follow Banksy’s path and become a street artist, her dad, Aaron Zenz found a way to encourage her without having her wander the streets with cans of spray paint.

Check out more of the story about this 10-year-old’s Banksy-inspired street art at Guy Kawasaki’s Holy Kaw!

Movie time

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:34:00 -0500

I haven’t been to the movies in ages - November I think - for me that’s a long time! I’m getting excited about the 2011 movie season though.

Things that look good:

Barney’s Version: Giamatti, Hoffman, Minnie Driver - all smart smart actors who work on smart scripts. It’s gonna be good.

The Way Back: Ed Harris and Colin Farrell directed by Peter Weir. Should be good.

Somewhere: I like Dorff and Sofia Coppola is a great writer/director no question.

X-men: ‘nuff said.

Thor: oh yeah! I can’t wait!

Green Lantern Captain America: ok - I will admit it - I’m going to see these simply because of the franchises, actors and so that I can waste hours comparing the years’ 5 superhero movies at the pub!

Cautiously optimistic:

The Green Hornet: I like Seth Rogan, and I love the franchise. I’m just a bit worried Rogen is going to “goof it up” too much.

The Company Men: Affleck, Costner, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones - all actors that can do great stuff, but can let you down too… Let’s see…

Things that look bad:

The Dilemma - Vince Vaughn just hasn’t gotten through to me lately. Why is he always love-sick? And Kevin James always seems like he’s trying too hard on the big screen. Odd because I like him on the small screen a lot.

Country Strong - I won’t even bother explaining why.

See you at the movies!

Usque ad Optima

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Usque ad Optima – that was the motto of my high school (St. Pat’s High in Halifax, Nova Scotia). Loosely translated as “Onwards and Upwards” or “Work to your Full Potential”, it has served me as a personal motto since I graduated.

On that note, I’ve decided to leave EnStream / Zoompass.

I’ve had a solid time here – and really enjoyed the work and camaraderie with a really great team especially. Working incredible hours and sacrificing a lot of their personal lives, the awesome team here churned out some of the most advanced mobile commerce and payment projects in the world today, and there is more to come. I’m proud that I’m leaving the team with a number of LOIs and MOUs signed sealed and delivered, so that EsStream will be busy rolling out some really great services over the next few quarters.

So while everything is in good stead and I’m looking forward to Zoompass’ continued success, It was a good time to take a pause and reflect. I’m really looking forward to enjoying the rest of the summer – traveling a bit, and fixing up my new house – with a plan to likely start a new project after Labour Day.

Thanks for all of your kind words and wishes!

p.s. FIRST THING – I NEED SOME HELP RE-DESIGNING THIS BLOG! IT’S AWFUL!!!

HST fails to compute

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Let’s be clear: I am not displeased with the advent of the HST, indeed, I believe that it should streamline the taxation process and overhead required to collect and manage the tax system.

And I am actually ok with paying more for semi-luxury items and services like dry cleaning and taxis.

However, I think we are making some bad decisions about what we tax.

According to the government flyer that showed up in my mailbox: new tax cuts, benefits, and credits have been put in place…but I have not seen any evidence of that yet.

Electricity is going up, so is natural gas, and oil and gasoline for our cars. We should be using less of these things, and a tax will help us keep that in mind…and I expect that there is or will be a benefit program to make sure that everyone has access to “enough” heat and power…right?

And then there are things that should never ever be taxed, period.

Internet access – it is simply stupid to do anything that might conceivably slow the uptake of he highest speed internet access available. The economic benefits of high penetration rates of Internet access are clear.

Fitness memberships and Vitamins – if people are helping to offset future health costs by keeping fit and healthy, subsidize that decision, don’t TAX it!

Camping – get people out of the city and into nature any way you can for crying out loud!

Hotel rooms – come on, we need all the tourists we can get! Especially if you’re gonna tax the flights and gas to get here!

Nicotine replacement products – These should be free, paid for by taxes and the cigarette companies, not taxed!

But while we are on this topic, why aren’t we taxing auto insurance? Could it be the massive lobby groups have the ear of the government?

k’naan would be proud

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

file:///store/home/user/videos/VID%2000005-20100619-2042.3GP

An Exciting Week in Canadian Telco

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Monday, June 7th kicks off the 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, organized by Mark Goldberg and Michael Sone – two great guys doing a lot for the telco market up here in Canada.

The Summit is three days long – wow – that’s a lot of opportunity for conflict! There is some serious animosity between some of the attendees, it could get interesting!

If you’re attending, please look for me. I’d love to get a chance to meet you.

On Monday, we kick off with a Keynote from Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement, who is expected to announce changes or at least consultations to the foreign ownership restrictions on wireless companies.

Rob Bruce (President, Communications at Rogers) speaks soon after, and Zoompass will be discussed in the mobile commerce panel in the afternoon.

On Tuesday, I’m especially intrigued to watch the dynamics between the CRTC and Bell and TELUS’s heads of government relations. Konrad von Finckenstein (Chair of the CRTC) is speaking for 30 minutes, followed by 90 minutes from the carriers in what’s billed as “The Regulatory Blockbuster”. If you hadn’t heard, Michael Hennessey – SVP, Regulatory & Government Affairs at TELUS was posed a question by Mr. von Finckenstein last week. Apparently he didn’t like the circumstances surrounding the questioning and the widely quoted response was “Bite me. This is bullshit.”

On Wednesday, I’ll look to get an update on start-up Globalive from Tony Lacavera (President), hear from TELUS (Robert McFarlane, CFO), and catch up with Bernard Lord – President of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunication Association. Lord is a highly respected former premier of the province of New Brunswick, a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, and a widely touted possible successor to Canadian PM Stephen Harper.

Wednesday afternoon finishes up with a cryptically titled panel session that could actually include some of the most interesting material: Advanced Wireless Service featuring: John Boynton, EVP Marketing, Rogers Communications; Ken Campbell CEO, Wind Mobile; and Dave Dobbin, President & CEO, Mobilicity (and moderated by Iain Marlow the Telecom Reporter from the Globe and Mail)

As I said – if you’re attending, please look me up. For those not attending, check back here for my insight into the three days.

Monday evening, I’m visiting a very intriguing looking start-up to see if I can help change the home electronics industry. If you know much about home audio, drop me a line please!

14 crazy hours hanging out with Guy Kawasaki – Holy Kaw!

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

I was in Halifax, Nova Scotia to attend the annual meeting of the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors and show off Zoompass – Canada’s mobile commerce platform. Having grown up in Halifax, I was a natural person to be asked to help escort Guy Kawasaki from his hotel to the convention centre where he was giving the closing speech.

Simple task right? “Meet in the lobby. Show him the way (walk 2 blocks). Don’t be late.”

If that was so simple, how did I end up spending the next 14 hours with him and then wind-up in a private jet on a late night ride to Toronto with him and a major captain of Canadian industry?

…We met in the lobby at the appointed time – and we chatted as we made our way across the street. Helping him get around, he didn’t seem comfortable, but I figured he might be getting in the zone for his speech. If you’ve read Guy’s post on the day, you’ll know that he gave a great speech. Huge energy, really got everyone going, and he received a standing ovation – the whole shebang.

But he descended from the stage looking a little…grey. Turns out he’d been experiencing chest pains all morning and hadn’t said a thing. He told me that he thought he’d overdone it in the gym the previous evening, but he was a bit worried it could be something more. All I could think was “This guy better not die here – that will not look good.”

So we decide to swing by the hospital. While Guy gets processed, he asks me to duck outside and call his wife: tell her it’s probably nothing, but he won’t be home in time for dinner. She’s understandably a bit un-nerved, and it is then that she asks me to “Tell him that I love him”…. and now I start to worry. This is a serious sentiment to deliver to someone. He had to get better, I did not want to have to call her with worse news.

So I spent the next ~5 hours or so sitting in the room with him. I had wanted to get a chance to get to know him a little, but this was a bit…awkward. I think I saw more of Guy in 7 hours than most people see in 7 years…and let’s just say I wish that I was in as good physical shape as he is. What do you say to a guy you respect but who you’ve only just met in real life? “Hope you’re not dying of a heart attack man. Cuz otherwise, you know, it looks like you take care of yourself eh? Bummer.” ??

The whole time, Guy is being really unassuming, really down-to-earth, trying to joke with people, and set everyone at ease. In the end, the doctor came in to tell us that Guy’s heart is fine – but bizarrely enough, he’s got pneumonia! That explains the constricting weight he’s felt on his chest. She prescribes some antibiotics for the rest of the week, and I kid you not, Guy’s (ultra polite) response was “So can I play hockey tomorrow?”

And then I join the Guy Kawasaki whirlwind for a few hours. Recently revived from his deathbed, he starts cracking all kinds of jokes and now wants to tour the Nova Scotian Crystal factory! They’re long closed by this time but Rod McCulloch and the team re-open to showcase their production line and to sell us a couple of pieces. Yes, Guy Kawasaki insists on paying full price. Guy showed an incredible genuine interest in and appreciation for people he met throughout the day.

We throw down a quick bite to eat and bounced around some jokes and thoughts. (Yes I asked him about working for Steve Jobs at Apple.) I could see that Guy reflects the total drive and dedication to projects that Jobs is known for… but also a great respect for people, and a sense of his place. When asked what he does, Guy’s answer was just that he “helps run a website, does some tech investing, gives some speeches -smile – and play a lot of hockey!”

We spoke about “trolls” – people building their own “fame” in social media circles on his name. He shrugged, “At least they know me. It’s better than being ignored.” I probed about his use of social media – his response mirrored my thinking since our last encounter: “I use social media for what I want. Other people use it how they want. There aren’t any rules. In general I think I help people get stuff done.” His interest in supporting people and spreading the word is pretty infectious.

Just when I thought the day couldn’t get any more bizarre, I got an email saying that we had to dash to the airport. We’d missed our flights while sitting in the emergency department, but a great Canadian businessman had graciously offered us seats on his plane heading to Toronto.

So when I thought I’d be sitting in the airport lounge trying to beg my way home stand-by, I find myself sitting on a plane talking with these two great guys – real business leaders – talking about our favourite technology, gadgets and snowboarding…AND getting lectures by them on the importance of daily exercise. Neither one of them look their age, and I think they could take me in a fight, so I guess I’m hitting the elliptical tonight.

For the record – if you get a chance to choose between reading the Macworld article test-driving the iPad, and having Guy guide you through his personal iPad… choose the latter! (and yes, I did add my contact info into his Address Book when he wasn’t looking!)

Sitting in MESH conference 2010 – realising that ive left this blog un-touched for far too long.

Wed, 19 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Inspiration Isn’t Hard to Find

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

In my job I get a chance to meet a lot of people who want to do fantastic stuff. Some of the ideas I see are well thought-out, others… well…

This project is one that I really believe in: Helping the people of Southern Sudan tell their own stories.

Check out www.threadsofhopesudan.ca

Krista Pawley traveled to Sudan in January 2007 with CASS, Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan, a grassroots non-governmental organization that works to support the educational, economic and vocational needs of the people of South Sudan.

Pawley distributed 22 disposable cameras to Sudanese men, women, and children – former slaves, boy-soldiers, and community leaders. Their photos, collected together, and titled THREADS OF HOPE.

Once they were slaves – Now they are entrepreneurs.

Once they were child soldiers – Now they build schools.

Once they knew only conflict – Now they live with hope.

Zoompass Launch Day!

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Today we launch Zoompass! We’ve been working on Zoompass for quite a while and everything’s fallen by the wayside as we’ve worked hard to prepare for this day. I apologise for having dropped off the face of the earth!

Zoompass, Canada’s first mobile payment service is a new fast, safe, and convenient way for Canadians to send and receive money using their mobile phones. It is the first product launched by EnStream LP, a mobile commerce joint venture company owned by Bell Mobility, Rogers and TELUS — Canada’s three leading wireless operators. Canada’s wireless phone companies decided to collaborate and launch the Zoompass service together with the vision that a common standard and interoperability for mobile money transfers across all networks would result in unprecedented convenience for consumers.

As VP, Strategic Partnerships for EnStream, I’m very pleased to share this news with you, and for more information (and to check out our pretty funny promo videos, check out www.getZoompass.com BUT WHATEVER YOU DO, make sure that you signup for a FREE account at www.Zoompass.com. Zoompass makes it easy to split a lunch bill, request money from parents, collect sports team fees, solicit money for a co-worker’s gift, or even pay a babysitter – right from a mobile phone. If Canadians find that the service fits into their life as much as I’ve found over the past few months, I fully expect to hear more people ask one another “Do you want me to Zoom you the money?” Please let me know what you think, I look forward to catching up with you soon