However, there is a lot of good that come from a thoughtful application of social media these days, especially for nonprofits that have fewer or less expansive resources. One example is around general PR. Years ago, it would take thousands of dollars to send out and manage PR each year with little means to track or analyze the results. Today, a good freelance writer and a subscription to HootSuite can do the same thing with actionable results based upon responses and analytics.

War Child, a nonprofit based in Toronto that fosters education for about children, in conjunction with the Canadian International Development Agency, produced a smart video called Going Digital--an introduction to digital communications for non-profits. The video introduces the topic of social media and online communications via various realistic nonprofit consultants. You can view this below. I highly recommend it.

This article as read on Readability and Instapaper.

There's a very interesting discussion going around the important Web right now about the differences between two similar services, Instapaper and Readability. These services allow committed readers of websites to bookmark, save and read in clear, distraction-free articles of all kinds--including this one). With a push of a button, these two applications strip out a plethora of advertising, navigation, logos, colors, and other visual detritus and create a simple and linear page for reading and reading well.

It's a trend that started long ago with the launch of writing products like Ulysses, by the German company, The Soulmen. For writers that use Ulysses, a full-screen view is provided; distraction-free writing ensues. Other applications like Maine-based Jesse Grosjean's WriteRoom, Barcelona's Heraiz Soto & Co.'s Omm Writer and most recently, Japan-based Information Architect's IA Writer, have followed suit with much success going to the latter. All of these tools make writing a pleasure--more like using a typewriter, which is how I learned to write essays, and less like toying with two turntables and a microphone.

Because there are 10,000 times more serious readers than than there are writers, it's become time for reading products that eliminate distraction to start to shine. In a paragraph, journalist John Gruber comes down on the side of Marco Arment's Instapaper. This application has been around for many years and has been lovingly crafted, supported, and developed by an army of one. I've used Instapaper almost since Day One and it makes saving long-form articles easy and reading them pleasurable. On the other side of the reading ring is technologist Anil Dash who implies in a post today that Readability is a more advanced application -- and that arguing about which one is better verges on a kind of Russian roulette for the developer community. Anil Dash should know--he sits on Readability's board.

Answering the questions of which is better is quite complicated. Instapaper is essentially free (its author mostly profits from the sale of the iOS app). Further, it's scrappy, simple and plays nice with others through a substantial API. Readability, on the other hand, uses a (rather covert upon sign-up) subscription service in which a percentage of a monthly payment goes to the publisher or writer. To me, having newly signed up for a Readability account, learning only later of its pay model is disappointing; the company should have explained, from the outset, that its services are not entirely free. Gruber goes so far as to call them "scumbags," not because of this sign-up process but because the company collects funds and profits directly from writers' articles and publishers' platforms--and keeps the money for unclaimed read articles.

And yet, Readability is a beautifully designed application and integrated set of tools. Unlike Instapaper, which sports a spare but not unlikable interface, Readability is gorgeous. Typographically, the text sparkles on the page--large type, clean iconography and a simple user interface in both the read and account views make it a hands-down winner. Having Roger Black and other design luminaries like Jeffrey Zeldman on its board (along with Dash) evidently helped evolve Readability's user interface to a polish that Instapaper can't quite meet. From a purely typographic perspective, Readability wins, for now. My fear is that that design polish is paid for by a less than forthright yet calculating business model.*

*Here, I'm obliquely reminded of a quote by philosopher and cultural critic Theodor Adorno: The culture industry not so much adapts to the reactions of its customers as it counterfeits them.

[Update: I think Gregory Cox's take that both apps are parasitic and inevitable is probably right.]

[Update 2: Had a I dug deeper, I would have learned that the fonts (such as our house favorite, Mercury) on Readability's application are served by the inimitable Hoefler & Frere-Jones. This only serves to fully solidify my argument in favor of the UI goodness of Readability.]

Blogging has come a long way and, yet, it has a long way to go. Yesterday, it was announced that Twitter had purchased Posterous, the relatively popular hosted blogging and publishing platform. I've used Posterous on and off for a few years now and it has impressive features and functions, despite its most recent endeavors, odd mobile apps and silly changes.*

This is a interesting strategic play by Twitter on a few levels. Most importantly, it ensures that Twitter has a mechanism to allow micro-bloggers to post longer and more sophisticated content, including longer pieces, photos, video, and more sophisticated embeds. While I personally appreciate the 140-character limit to keep things tight and short in a virtual landscape of verbal and visual excess, it makes good sense for Twitter to start thinking literally outside the (character) box.

What's less clear is how Twitter can successfully manage and integrate the Posterous platform--and of relevance, it's built-in community. Posterous, like other hosted blogging platforms such as its cousin Tumblr, grandfather Blogger, sister-in-law WordPress.com, and step-sister TypePad, is a full-featured means for individuals and organizations to post content regularly without requiring a developer to integrate these tools on a stand-alone site. It just works. If the transition isn't executed kindly and with deep respect for long-term Posterous users, Twitter will lose those followers to competitors. I estimate that a savvy blogger can change technical allegiances in less than 3 hours--creating a new account, exporting and incorporating content, and personalizing the theme.

I strongly doubt that Twitter acquired Posterous to decimate it. There's too much valuable intellectual property behind the latter; however, all bets are that its IP is quickly incorporated into the Twitter ecosystem over the next year. (*The ridiculously-named "Spaces" of Posterous Spaces will probably be the first transplanted piece of the puzzle. But why Posterous felt it needed to rename itself is inexplicable from a branding perspective.)

As an aside, I've been blogging for over 12 years now designing blogs for the same amount of time. While the technology has evolved, it hasn't fundamentally transformed. A blog still contains a form, a publish button and a means for archiving content. What has changed, in my opinion, is the ability to write valuable content of more than 140 characters. In my search for blog posts about this acquisition, I found very little.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to look at the President of the United States' website. I hadn't seen it in a while and the difference is striking. While previously the site was focused on idealism and possibility, now it's entirely focused on the campaign. The site does a beautiful job of depicting Mr. Obama's biographic material in a friendly and generous way. The large open (e.g. "HOPE"-like) space of previous days is gone -- today it's back to basics -- with a key focus on honesty and integrity and the numerous key issues his administration is focused upon. It's nice work and politically astute. The campaign and its site are one and the same: both feature Mr. Obama's tightly balanced position, his accomplishments and recent record, and his connection to his country.

It's also great to see the site be the first that I know of to use the inimitable Gotham as a web font. Like many designers, I eagerly await being able to use Hoefler & Frere-Jones' fonts online. I don't blame them for giving the President's website the first swing of the bat.

P.S. As my colleague, Michael Barrish, points out, the new Obama site is responsive, working beautifully across mobile and desktop browsers.

I advised her, as I have many clients of late, that deep and rich knowledge gained over many years and with much experience will win the day. The bells and whistles of Facebook and Twitter, albeit often sonorous and lovely to behold, are mostly treats for those who want to behold the latest thing. Despite instant search and the lazy Web, I believe that a consulting firm that offers considered, thoughtful and knowledge-based ideas and advice--whether creative, quantitative, or qualitative--will drive better results to their clients.

In a highly connected yet fragmented world, strong and long-lasting communications really requires depth of experience, a history of success stories, and a repository of old and new ideas. I say this as someone who has seen the likes of AOL, Flash, and Friendster take off then fizzle, flail, fail--but good design and execution consistently sail.

We've been privileged to work with Natel Energy, a company developing new (and fish-friendly) technologies for generating electricity across water drops. The company built a reputation for commercial innovation, challenging the perception that hydropower products must be large and energy consuming in order to be valuable. With its products distributed widely across many agricultural and other localities, Natel's products have the capacity to offer truly low-cost and emission-free energy to the grid throughout the world.

Their website describes their compelling vision:

The design [of the SLH system] originated from a desire to create technology that would work efficiently and at low cost in large flow, low head settings. The natural analogue used in the design process is the beaver dam. By creating hydropower efficiently from dams that are the height of beaver dams, we add a novel tool to the hydropower developer's toolbox—and the ability to truly think big picture about managing water resources. Our vision is to enable efficient, cost-effective utilization of water to produce energy, while maintaining conditions that sustain or improve water resources for ecosystems, for human consumption, for agriculture and for recreation.

In fact, U.S. Department of Energy awarded Natel a $1 million dollar grant to validate the performance of its SLH product in Oregon in September 2011.

In January 2012, we completed an upgrade of the Natel site, making it more interactive and engaging. We added a project calculator to allow prospective customers to see how much power could be generated from a specific site. The tool provides instant feedback to customers and provide initial lead capture to the company. We also added a photography gallery to illustrate how a particular project, the Buckeye South Extension Canal works. The images tell the story beautifully.

Manoverboard wishes Natel and its fantastic team many future successes.

We have only just begun

Although I'm very saddened by the death of Václav Havel, it's nevertheless inspiring to hear his words repeated over the past few weeks.

An article in the Sydney Morning Herald today finishes with this:

Before the eastern bloc collapsed, few people imagined it would happen. But history can be surprising. In 2012 Australians have a choice. We can use our wealth wisely, reduce carbon emissions, make an imaginative effort to stand in the shoes of an asylum seeker, set a wholesome example for our children.

We will be resting our minds (well, for the most part) until January 6, 2012. Wishing you and yours a very, very happy, hopeful and prosperous 2012.

Going Gonzo for promotion. Image credit: Perpetual Geek Machine.

Starbucks along with its partner, Opportunity Finance Network, recently launched a campaign to help create jobs in the U.S. Entitled Create Jobs for USA, the goal is to create new financing for local businesses to help create and sustain jobs. It's an innovative framework that deserves consideration. Starbucks is donating $5 million to OFN, which will in turn provide low cost loans to small businesses in underserved communities.

Some critics have charged Starbucks, with its deep connections to many American neighborhoods, could be providing more funding. While $5 million is, indeed, a drop in the bucket for a company with Starbucks' vast leverage, I would assume the company is testing the model and would provide new seed financing if some successes are demonstrated. Triple Pundit's Raz Godelnik writes in How Starbucks’ Jobs Campaign Missed the Point that there the larger strategic misalignment between the company and local businesses.

Starbucks could do it here by collaborating with local businesses and encouraging customers to buy local goods, announcing the addition of a local purchasing minimum goal, and so on. Instead, it chose a program that at best is an add-on, but does not create a real sustainable value.

I agree. If Starbucks seeks to fund strong ties between the company's stores and franchises and local businesses throughout the country, CEO Schultz might encourage their stores to develop partnership opportunities, co-branding, or other tools to help small businesses. What would happen if each store was provided with a small grant to hire local businesses to provide milk products, in-store signage, or even cleaning services? What if Starbucks decided to create an initiative called "Starbucks Creates Local" in which small, home-based businesses were brought in to learn about the company's marketing strategies and to provide small advertising and promotion campaigns for their products in-store? Moreover, what if those businesses got free promotion on local Starbucks' websites for six months to power those campaigns.

These local and highly-focused practices would leverage the ideas and knowledge of local Starbucks workers, promote deeper ties with the community, and even maybe create sustainable small businesses.

What does any of this have to do with The Muppets? In the recent movie, our fuzzy friends, like many in North America, have fallen on hard times. Each of the characters have essentially given up hope that their dreams will ever come true. Kermit is living a secluded life while Fozzy Bear has become a sad lounge singer rehashing old tunes in Reno. In order to rebuild their show and save the old, dilapidated theater from a rapacious oil baron, the group attempts to raise $10 million. But the Muppets struggle with getting funding, despite their past successes.

I saw the film with my daughter this weekend and it was entertaining and joyful. It also struck me that the furry friends indeed needed a shot of capital—but would have also benefitted from a warm dose of advice and a platform promotion.

World's first view of Earth taken by a spacecraft. Image credit: NASA.

Jeffrey Sachs wrote a powerful piece in the New York Times called The New Progressive Movement that many larger businesses--and not just politicians--should be reading. In the piece, Sachs, an economist and director of Columbia's The Earth Institute, argues that a thirty-year old set of political and economic systems have created the inequality that Occupy Wall Street and affiliated organizations so decry. After spelling out the logic of two previous progressive eras, in the late 19th century and 1930s, he writes:

Following our recent financial calamity, a third progressive era is likely to be in the making. This one should aim for three things. The first is a revival of crucial public services, especially education, training, public investment and environmental protection. The second is the end of a climate of impunity that encouraged nearly every Wall Street firm to commit financial fraud. The third is to re-establish the supremacy of people votes over dollar votes in Washington.

Politicians on both sides of the ideological spectrum have been slow to react to the young, disenfranchised, and discounted who have populated public and private parks in the U.S., Canada, and other Western countries. Sachs lays out a few reasons why.

What's interesting to me is that most large, responsible businesses have been even slower--or, more accurately, unresponsive--to the calls of this new era and to the citizens who represent the so-called 99%. For the past thirty years, very few companies have made strides to position themselves as good citizens of the economy or the environment.

In some cases, companies that have called themselves "green" have fallen flat on their face. BP, of course, comes to mind. Before the Gulf of Mexico spill, their sunny logo and yellow highlighted text graced many advertisements touting their focus on sustainability, "beyond petroleum". After the spill, BP retrenched its marketing entirely.

The reality is that, like politicians, large and mid-sized American and Canadian companies have a real opportunity to not only rebrand themselves but to realign their strategic vision with greater transparency and efficacy. The order of the day for business will be to recognize their unique economic, social and environmental impacts but also to educate the public about their ideas, initiatives, and investments.

As Sachs notes, as a new movement of vested shareholders, consumers and watchdogs unfolds, companies will need to communicate not only their profitability, but their responsibility to a globalized citizenry.

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma--which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.