Okay, maybe not the MOST exciting news in the world, but if one of the reasons you read this (very rarely updated blog) is because you want to stay up to date on 23press happenings, we’ve now got our blog up!

If you’d been reading in the last few weeks, you would have known:

1. We joined an incubator, INcubes.
2. We hired our first non-founder dev.
3. We just finished a Hackathon.

And if you read this/next week, you’ll see:

1. Security issues with current WordPress backup plugins.
2. Product launch.
3. Deal on product launch, until Feb 28th.
4. Product announcement.
5. Investor info.

So head on over to stay up to date! I’ll still feature big news here, but if you want to see how 23press continues to grow and evolve, head on over and subscribe, or follow us on Facebook!

This is not a prostate gland:

Not a Prostate Gland

That’s because every picture I could find of a prostate gland was disgusting. So for today’s discussion, imagine the above suuuuper cute puppy is, in fact,  a prostate gland. Now, you wouldn’t want this prostate gland to die now would you? That’d be sad.

Now imagine how sad it’d be if every guy you loved had a puppy this cute attached to him, and if their puppy got really sick and died they would die too. Now we have not just dying puppies, but cute puppies and beloved dudes dying at the same time!

About Movember

From the site:

Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month.  The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for prostate cancer.  Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days.

A non prostate courtesy of #thecrush

Why I’m Helping

Besides a deep love for all puppies (mine in particular), the reality is that men’s health causes sometimes don’t get enough attention. That’s nobody’s fault, but given my puppy could one day get sick, as could the puppies attached to my two kids, I figure it’s my duty to do what I can. Even if “what I can” means “making a fool of myself”…

Cause… Erm, this boy can’t grow facial hair. Even to save my puppy.

But I’m doing it anyways. I’m growing a Mo (moustache), or my attempt at one, and taking on public ridicule cause it’s the right thing to do, it’s fun and, hell, it’s for charity so even the public mockery will be pretty low key.

And you can too!

Want to Help?

I’m helping run the digital program for Movember Toronto. And we’re mobilizing. Now. There are lots of real world events we’ll be supporting across towns. Numerous challenges to organize across  the digital space, and a whole whack of silly, sexy and odd pictures of Toronto Mo’s to take, post and promote.

It is our goal to raise $1MM in Toronto for prostate research. And to do that, we need every Mo Bro and Mo Sister (girls that either love healthy puppies or love guys that have healthy puppies) to mobilize.

For now, we’re creating teams to spearhead awareness, fundraising, laughter and maybe a puppy flashmob (I’m quasi serious) across the Greater Toronto Area. So if you love puppies or dudes or just want to see way more Mos next month, here’s what you can do:

• Suggest a new team
• Suggest someone for an existing team
• Suggest a sponsor or partner
• Suggest an event
• VOLUNTEER for an of the above
• Choose a team you’d like to lead or co-lead (see below)

The MovemberTO Teams

Here’s my brainstorm (names subject to change), along with Melissa Smich and Michael Nus who are Co-Captains and spreading the word:

• AgencyMosTO: Work at an agency? Which agency will have the best Mo? Which one will raise the most puppy-saving money? Which one will produce the oddest puppy-sized replica of yours truly?
• GenYYZMos: Part of the younger generation? Just cause your puppy is young, doesn’t mean it can’t be awesome. Step up and show how much you love puppies, and sexy guys in Mos!
• StartupMosTO: Startups rawk at doing a tonne with very little. The startup community here in Toronto rawks… so let’s show the world what we can do when we put our minds to it! Besides, we don’t want those AgencyMos raising more money, do we?!
• BrownMosTO: Okay, I’m brown. I know you can’t tell, but it’s true (well half brown). So I want to see my community mobilized. Besides, few people on the planet grow better body hair than the brown man! (present company sadly excluded).
• Others? Let me know your thoughts! What communities should we reach out to? The gay community? Musicians? Artists? Hipsters? Suburbanites? Baby boomers? People named who’s first name is Dave?

The Wrap-Up

Puppies are cute. Prostates are not. Proof:

A cute puppy. Not a cute prostate.

Save a puppy. Email me (jeremy@netmobs.com) or call (416 726 3602) to get involved. Or just leave a comment here. Tweet it.  Spread it on Facebook. Let’s mobilize Toronto for the good of all cute guys, all cute puppies and all (un)cute prostates.

How to Participate

And Follow @MovemberTO (yes it’s still being turned on, one step at a time!) on Twitter for more updates!

Go to Movember.com and Register.  Join the MovemberTO team.

So the iPad is out. Yay. I mean, no, really, this is my excited face. You can tell because my eyes are open.

Seriously, though, I had very low expectations for the iPad. Mostly because, well, I figured it’d just end up being a larger iPhone and an eBook reader all in one. And none of that sounded exciting. But part of me,  a small part, was actually hoping that when  Steve-O said it was the most important thing he’d evar done (remember this is the guy who invented moving to a different state to jump the donor list) that it’d actually, y’know, matter.

Now I’m hopeful that the iPad will a) get a new name but b) more importantly will pull an iPhone and be rawking by it’s 3rd iteration (cue Microsoft jokes).

However, right now? It barely even meets my expectations. Let’s review what Steve-O promised… that the iPad would be better than either an iPhone or a laptop at:

The iPad iAin't Better...

Browsing: While I’m no Flash fan (though I see it’s place, especially for educational and rich media stuff), not having Flash available in a browser is flat out bad for browsers. Sorry, but even if you think Flash is evil, ask yourself: if Microsoft had come out with an OS that didn’t support Flash would you be happy? I think not. WIN: Laptop.

Email: The physical keyboard is nice. But how is it better at email than a laptop? Sorry,  poorer typing, less UI control? WIN: Laptop.

Photos: I’ll actually give this to the iPad. Everything about this is sexy. WIN: iPad.

Video: In what world is the iPad better at video? Cause it has fullscreen  and you can carry it on your lap? But it doesnt’ have widescreen. And doesnt’ allow non-Youtube web-based video… and doesnt’ have decent external speakers. Or the ability to plug in decent USB headphones or… anything. WIN: Laptop.

Music: Music should be one of two things: highly portable, or high quality. The iPad is neither. Nevermind that Flash-based music services (like many podcast plugins for wordpress) simply won’t work. What’s the use-case for a larger iPod Touch that plays the same thing as the iPod touch, but where I can’t listen to the music while doing something else? Maybe if it was waterproof I could use it in the bath, but besides that… I got nuthin’. WIN: Laptop/iPhone.

Games: Games, like music, should be one of two things: highly portable or high quality. The iPad does neither. What it does do, which is interesting, is introduce true multi-touch gaming. This’ll bear watching. For now, though? WIN: Laptop/iPhone.

eBooks: Yeah, eBooks. Let’s give the iPad props. It is drop dead gorgeous for newspaper/magazine reading. I can totally see sitting on the couch reading the latest issue of Drop or something. Sexy. But books? Erm, no, I refuse to strain my eyes that way while reading for 6 hours (plus, can’t imagine how I’d prop this up while laying sideways in a readable fashion?). Props for beauty, but this is not an eReader, nevermind one for eBooks (Steve-O’s word). Nevermind that my Kindle? I leave it in my backpack loaded with books. If I don’t see it for 3 months, but then find myself on a plane? Pull it out and read. That’ll never happen with the iPad. WIN: KINDLE.

Fundamentally, I can’t really figure out a solid use-case for the iPad, outside of the ability to watch TV on a smaller and more portable screen… No multitasking. No USB. No video out. No phone calls. No Flash. No camera. No use.

Hell, even Hitler hates it:

Till I Collapse
by Enimem

Until the roof
The roof comes off
Until my legs
give out from underneath me

I will not fall,
I will stand tall,
Feels like no one could beat me.

Nearly 6 months ago (in 9 days), I announced that I was leaving b5media, a  company where I was the CEO and one of 4 founders, along with 3 other amazing individuals. I then  proceeded to take roughly 6 months of quieter time to work on me, sort through stuff and figure out what I wanted personally and professionally. Note: I highly recommend doing this if you haven’t recently (it’s a central  part of a talk I’m giving with @geekmommy at South by South West).

As I came out of my hardcore “Workcation”, and a month post the transition,  I wrote this post detailing some of my thoughts and whatnot. Looking back  on the post, the thing that stood out (besides my #madwritingskillz) was my thoughts on what I wanted to do:

1. Figure out what makes you smile, and do more of that
2. Figure out what makes you stress, and do less of that
3. Don’t be afraid to fail (I used to live by this, but sometime in the last year I lost it)
4. Sleep
5. Friends and family matter

More smiling.

Less stress.

More passion.

More sleep.

More involvement.

What I Wanted

Basically I wanted a job where I could be great, be part of a team, have real work/life balance (cause I’d be more inspired that way) and make a difference in the company and for our clients.

I’ve seen a lot of job opportunities over the last 6 months.  Many of them were amazing, and I felt silly turning them down, but something about each just didn’t feel with my fundamental needs to make a difference, be part of a great team and learn/grow.

Over the last few months, one opportunity has consistently excited me. I could never quite put my finger on “why” until a good and wise friend basically pointed out that if I was still interested even though it wasn’t the best pay, the best title, etc, then I must either be crazy or I must actually give a damn. I really did. And giving a damn about your “job” is actually pretty cool when you get right down to it.

She’s a smart cookie that one. Even if she does say “insurance” and “ambulance” wrong.

So, I talked to the company, we worked out details, and … well, today is Day 1.

What I Got

Today I’ve joined the Thornley Fallis / 76design team. The titles don’t matter. The details don’t matter. What matters is:

1. The team is Blue Angel incredible. From people I knew rawked like Dave, Michael, Terry and Joe to people I’ve gotten to know very recently that are also incredible like Sarah, Shawn, Jenn, Keelan and Leisha… to people that I haven’t met yet cause I’ve only been here 6 hours… who are also, I’m completely confident, rawkstars.
2. We’re doing fab work for some incredibly interesting clients. I’m not sure what the kosherness is on naming them, so I’ll just say that our clients are high end companies we’re doing leading edge work for, as well as folk you may never hear of where we’re able to grow and redefine their business. It’s just flat out cool.
3. I get to learn. Let’s face it, doing new stuff is 3 parts scary and 105 parts just wicked exciting. Doing it in an industry you’ve only worked with tangentially (even if you’ve won gobs of awards and spoken at events in said industry) is even cooler. Getting to learn about marketing, branding and PR from some of the coolest and most knowledgeable people in Canada (if not the entire industry)? Teh hawtness.

This is my first time in a “job” in, like, 6 years. It’s my first time with a “real” desk and an office, well, evar. It’s my first time taking on a senior role in a company I didn’t start, or where I didn’t work my way up through the ranks. But more important than that, it’s my first time working in such a dynamic environment where the team, clients and work are all nsync (see what I did there? #boybandaddict).

Today is Day 1. It was a great day (and it’s nowhere near done). I’m hopped up on something better than redbull: energy and excitement. They should bottle this shit.

PS: HUGE thanks to @jpetersen for helping me fix blog issues to get this up! Total great guy! Here’s his details in case you ever need help ;-)

To any of my friends, it’s no secret that I’ve never liked football. Hell, I’ve publicly mocked it on stage, on Twitter and in conversations. Even to professional football players. I’m classy like that. Classy, I tell ya!

However recently I decided to give football (NFL, not CFL!) a real shot and watch a full game. Why isn’t important. Neither is it important why I chose the New Orleans Saints to cheer for. But I did. Not a bad team to pick, they were 5-0 going into last week’s game against the Dolphins, and having been to NOLA in the recent past, I felt it was a good game/team/time to give the sport a serious shot.

This had to hurt…

So what happened? What did I think of America’s pastime? Is it still  on par with baseball in my mind, or is it a real sport?

If you aren’t sure, I highly suggest reviewing my Twitter stream from last night’s Saints/Falcons game. Cause, erm, I was clearly into it. I’ve now watched 2 games in a row, both highly emotional, highly charged games, and I think I’ve realized why I didn’t give football  it’s due before:

• I didn’t grow up in the states: this should go without saying, but the reality is Canadians don’t get excited about football. We’ve never been to a tailgater. We probably can’t even  name 3 QBs (hell, half of us probably think you’re talking about a certain smelly province of ours).
• Football is a social game: now, most sports are best watched with others. But watching a NEW sport alone? Not so hawt. Twitter changes this. Being able to chat with Aaron and jam with other Saints fans during the game is a whole nother expeirence!
• I had no emotional ties to the teams: I’m a Leafs fan. Always will be. Even  this year when  they’re playing like the farking Ducks. I’m a Leafs fan cause I AM CANADIAN and I AM TORONTONIAN. It’s what we do. How we roll. Why we’re idjuts. I had no emotional connection to any NFL teams or cities, so there was no emotional investment in the game – which always makes the game 10x better. Don’t believe me? Try watching women’s lacrosse.

My halloween costume …

Since I’ve now watched a game, have folk I can talk to during games and have a team/city I care about… well, football  is a very different experience. And, as much as it pains me to say it: it’s an experience I actually enjoy.

I can’t say I’ll watch every Saints game. I won’t. I can’t even say I’ll follow the stats religiously, cause I won’t. But, like the Leafs, if a game’s on, or a friend invites me over, or I snag tickets: I’ll be there and prepared. I won’t become a football freak like Aaron, but I will no longer mock the sport. Specially when the saints are playing.

#WHODAT!

Every year,  the panel submissions and voting for SxSW sneak up on me. Normally I don’t have time to submit a panel idea, so I’ve only really been able to speak once when I was selected last-minute. This year, I decided to be different,  and proactively reached out to some folk well before the deadline to put together panels that:

1. I’d go to even if I wasn’t speaking (which is saying something, cause I only go to about 3 panels per conference)
2. Were different from the “normal” panels you see at conferences
3. Have people I respect/admire/care about on the panels
4. Challenge assumptions
5. Provide value

Most of the normal  things I’d speak on, were taken out by point 1/2. And most  of the fluffy ideas that I’d normal brainstorm on were  taken out by points 4-5.  But point 3 is ultimately what drove the discussions.

My Panels

When I pinged Lu, Patrick and Dave about doing panels with them  individually (or vice versa on Dave, maybe), as well as a few others, it was because I ultimately wanted to be on panels with them. And what we talked about, I felt, should be a meshing of our experiences.

As a result, the opening call with Lu was basically shooting the shit for half an hour,  before realizing we were going through similar types of transitions. Both from  different extremes, but both basically looking to find balance, bliss. And so Ditch  the Old to Build Your Dream Life was born. It was deadsimple to brainstorm Chris and Erin would be  perfect. Both people I love,  respect, admire, look up to, etc.

Similar discussions happened with Dave, leading to F#$% Keeping it Simple. Being a mobile guy, Dave wanted to talk about how too simple in mobile was limiting the potential of the device. I wanted to focus on  how simplicity in startups is as much a curse as a helper. It’s a crutch  people use to put ideas down, instead of thinking outside the box and trying to do stuff right.

That said, I’ll freely admit that much of the brainstorming for the session with Patrick around How to Recover from  a Brand Collapsee was Patrick’s idea. Patrick’s been running communities for ages, is wicked smart and I’ve  known him since before either of us could just say the name of our company and not have to go into elevator pitches everytime we introduced ourselves. Patrick’s recent post on How to Recover from Social Media Failure  (paraphrased) is a great example of his thought leadership in this space.

And, well, the last panel  I submitted is still quasi confidential. Some folk are aware my wife and I split awhile ago, and that I now have a girlfriend.  Very few folk know who she is because we’re being fairly incognito about the whole thing. But the interesting thing that folk always love when we tell our story in person is that we met on Twitter. So we found a few other folk who had as well and put together Twitter and Dating in 140 Characters or Less.

So those are the panels I’m hoping to land this year. Each of these is unique for me, and challenging, and I know that I’ll learn.

Toronto Panels

In addition to my panels, I want to encourage folk from Toronto to vote for panels from folk from Toronto. The Canadian invasion last year (powered by #canLIT) was in full force last year, but we weren’t organized enough to have a significant number of panels. That should change. While there are lots of high profile wicked smart people like David  Crow, Joey DeVilla, Saul Colt,  etc in Toronto, there are way more wicked smart people who don’t yet have the profile they deserve. So, hop up and vote for your local talent!

Kev Richard (a fellow mobster) put together an amazing list of Toronto panels. Click through and send him a thanks, follow him on Twitter, etc. Here’s his list:

1. F#$% Keeping it Simple presented by Dave Coleman, Saul Colt and Jeremy Wright
2. Community Management : Future Skills You’ll Need to Know presented by Saul Colt
3. Tweet Your Way to Your Next Job presented by Saul Colt
4. Putting a Fork in The 30 Second Spot with panelist Andrew Lane
5. Life After Wii Fit: Geeks On Fitness presented by Wesley Hodgson
6. Make Me a Damn Good Manager! presented by Andre Gaulin
7. Millionaire or Artist? How About Both? with panelist Amrita Chandra
8. Distributed Micro-Patronage: The Future of Getting Paid: presented by Josh Newman
9. Building Blocks of a New Economy For Music: presented by David Dufresne
10. Colour Trends -Palettes to Pick for 2010 presented by Paige Dzenis
11. Brilliant Second Acts You Must Steal Tricks From presented by Jaime Woo
12. How to Recover From a Brand Collapse panelist Jeremy Wright
13. Twitter and Dating in 140 Characters or Less presented by Jeremy Wright and special guest!
14. Ditch the Old to Build Your Dream Life with panelist Jeremy Wright
15. Gaming’s Final Frontier- Moving Towards Monetization & Improving Experience presented by Troy Ross
16. Passionate People: The Key Ingredient to Social Media Success: with panelists Meghan Warby , James Topham and Ryan Taylor
17. A Different Documentary : Online Story Telling and Social Change presented by Boyd Niel
18. Documentary Games: Playing with the Truth presented by Tony Walsh
19. Multi-Platform Storytelling with panelist Andrew Lane
20. SXSW SARS with panelist Jay Goldman
21. We are Family: Web Applications Band Together Now! presented by Sunir Shah
22. How to be a Customer Support Rockstar presented by Grace Antonio
23. Experimental Design:Your User Interface is Your Laboratory presented by Mike McDerment
24. Exploiting Chaos– How to Spark Innovation During Times of Change presented by Jeremy Gutsche
25. News 2.0 – How Old Media Companies Are Inventing New Models presented by Maggie Fox with panelists Laura Conway, Mathew Ingram, and Candice Faktor.

Friends

In addition, I’d like to highlight Brandon Eley’s panel ideas,  and encourage you to vote for him as well:

• Marketing By Design: Practical Advice For Better Conversions
• How To Pitch Social Media To Your Clients

So There

SxSW Panel Voting ends on Friday, so if you’re interested  in voting,  don’t put it off.  Vote now. For mine, for local ones,  for your friends. Hell, search for great terms and support the wide  base of submissions that are in for this year.

Ever since announcing my resignation as CEO of b5media I’ve had a tonne of email. Well, less than I did while I worked at b5 (cause I don’t get the mountain of internal email), but a lot of email specifically addressed to me that asks for a specific response. I’ve managed to answer most of these (one of my todos is to get my inbox empty for Wednesday) in the midst of my “workcation”, but realized that it might be easier to post a bit publicly, and then refer the simpler questions to this post.

Not to  be antisocial, but at some point you get tired of answering “so, are you sad?” (no, I won’t answer that in any detail here, cause it should be obvious … no, and yes, at the same time).

In the spirit of openness, and efficiency, and just of, y’know, getting back in the habit of blogging, here are some common questions and my deep, thoughtful, wise answers:

Q: So… What’s Next?

This is the question I, understandably, get  asked the most. The short answer is “I don’t know”. The medium answer is “I’ll be running netmobs and doing consulting for clients while I find the right fit… which could end up being netmobs“. The long answer is “I’m talking to companies, agencies, startups, etc about finding the right fit, but I’m in no hurry”.

Ultimately I figure I have 3 options right now (outside of the “do another startup” one, which I’ll answer in a sec): a) join a larger corporation in a senior strategic role (a friend suggested “EVP Social Media” or similar), b) join a midsized, profitable, agency or startup either for a finite period (to help them reach Goal X) or permanently or c) join a media company or startup, likely in the US, in a senior role around BD/media/social media/product development/etc.

At this point, I come back from my “workcation” on Tuesday, I have a bunch of lunches/meetings/coffees, and I’ll have a better idea by the end of the month. Right now I’m listening, talking, strategizinng and figuring out not just what I want or where I can add the most value, but where I fit.

That could be netmobs, it could be a “regular job”, it could be in a VC firm or it could be something totally random. Which is why I’m taking some time, listening, hanging out and helping folk when and where I cna.

Q: Are You Going to Do Another Startup?

Kind of related to the above question, some folk want to know if I’m going to do another startup. Especially after the oddly skewed WSJ article made it sound like the issue was some kind of inability to hack it in the startup world.

Granted, I was pretty tired (any job where you work 80+hrs/week without taking breaks for months/years will burn you out), and things do need to change in the startup world around helping CEOs finding balance (especially in Canada where we tend to eat our own young), but the issue around b5 was pretty simple: I was working too much, I had been at it too long, and I lacked perspective because of the huge amount of history there (none of it bad, but history nonetheless).

So I made a clean break so I could reboot. The last 4-6 weeks have basically been the equivalent of rebooting and putting more RAM into a Windows machine that’s been  running 24/7 for 4 years. I feel good, I feel very fresh, and you could install some hawt new apps on me and I’d purr and be happy. As long as I remember to reboot on a more regular basis, I should be good.

Does that mean I’m going to do another startup? Probably not right away. Probably not about to start another media/software/internet business in the near future. I’ll probably play around with ideas. I’ll definitely continue to build out netmobs, which as an agency is kind of like a startup. And one of those things might turn into a Real Business. But I won’t be looking to place my life, passions and livelihood completely on the line at this point by starting or joining a startup that isn’t profitable.

Q: Are You Still Involved at b5media?

Yes and no. I’m no longer involved operationally, which means if you want to know a) if b5 is doing something, b) when b5 is doing something, c) why b5 isn’t doing something, d) etc… I won’t know or speculate, but I can introduce you to the person who will know and may or may not tell you (heh). However I’m still a founder, shareholder and board member, which means I get to have input, watch my baby grow and try and stay out of the way. Not a bad deal really!

Q: What Would You Have Done Differently?

I know a lot of folk write those kinds of long, reflective posts immediately upon leaving a startup. Might gut says it’s a way to decompress, make a clean break, reflect, etc. For me, though, I don’t have the necessary distance or perspective to put together a list of 5, 10 or 100 things I’d have done  differently, that I learned, etc. Ask me again in a year and you’ll likely get a useful and coherent answer.

Bonus Q: You Got Divorced?

I don’t talk about personal things in this kind of public way very often, but I did mention a new girlfriend in my leaving post so folk asked about my marriage… and suffice to say that I’m no longer married, but that (see: girlfriend) I’m not single either. So, David, please stop sending me topless pictures of yourself.

Drive-by Thankyous

Before I head back to my hermit-like last few days of my workcation,  though, I do want to thank a few folk who’ve helped me over the last few months through this transition.Some of it has been simple encouragement, some has been outright advice, all have been incredible, incredible friends.

I’m sure I’ll forget people, so I’ll also just say a generic “thank you” to anyone who was helpful, supportive, caring or even just gave me a swift kick in the pants. I hope to see you all at BWE, SxSW or in a random airport/bar/marina.

• Reem
• Merlene
• Aaron
• Erika
• Rachel
• Rick
• Micah
• Brad
• Ted
• My dad
• My mom
• Dan
• Paige
• Lee
• Jay
• David

It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I’m not a huge Google fan. I’ve railed against their policies, tactics, AdSense, book scanning and dozens of other things the company has done. But, I rely on Google on a daily basis. Not because I want to, but because there is no better option. On a daily basis, I use the following apps:

• Gmail
• Gmail mobile
• Google Maps
• Google Calendar
• Google Calendar Sync
• Google Calendar Mobile
• Google Docs

Suffice to say that Google keeps me going on a daily basis. When Gmail goes down, I lose it (almost as much as when Twitter goes down, heh), so yeah Google keeps me going, keeps me in business, etc.

But the suite of Google apps, while powerful, simply suck when used in tandem. Why, for example:

• Can’t I get notifications of new emails when I’m in Google Calendar?
• Can’t I get reminders of upcoming appointments when in Gmail?
• Can’t I favourite/bookmark files (or have RECENT FILES) easily accessible from any app?
• Aren’t my Google Reader notifications easily visible from anywhere?
• Can’t I easily include files from Google docs as attachments in emails?
• … and oh, oh so many more (don’t even get me started on creating calendar items/todos from emails)…

I mean, seriously, yay  (</sarcasm>)that we can FINALLY one-click access any app in the suite (well, most apps in the suite)… but, Google, that’s not enough.

And it’s certainly not enough for me to keep paying for this “suite” of applications.

Google, if you want me to pay,  fix the stuff above.

In order to help Google along, and to hopefully generate some brainstorming on this subject, I’ve done up a quick mockup, borrowing heavily from Facebook‘s footer menu (which I use daily… in fact, it’s the only reason I use most areas of Facebook, because they’re so easily accessible).

And here it is… (click for fullsize version)

Something like this would:

• allow search from right within any app (which, since I’ve switched to Bing, would mean I’d use Google Search  more often since it was so easy)
• lists several easy to access apps that I use on a regular basis, has favourite files or recent files
• notify you of unread emails (and preview them for easy processing such as deleting, marking as read, moving to folders, etc without leaving whatever app you were in)
• notify you (and allow you to to mark as read) items in Google Reader
• notify you of upcoming appointments
• allow you to use Google Chat from anywhere and get those notifications as well (though personally I’d probably turn those notifications off so I was more productive)… this would also save many of those “awww crap, I was talking to someone but clicked on Google Docs and now they’re gone” from Gmail’s chat UI.

Granted, I built this for me, so others might have other things they want. And, obviously if an appointment was upcoming there should be an alert of some kind that was a bit more intrusive (potentially making the window flash in the toolbar, generating a sound, having a toast, whatever).

Anyways, this seemed so obvious to me that I had to check with several friends to make sure this didn’t exist.

In addition, this kind of tie-in would  make other features, such as the ability to attach Google Docs directly into Gmail emails easy, would hold your Google Profile information and would presumably allow for things like integration to Facebook and so forth. If this was built as a piece of downloadable software, it would also give Google  huge data on your true browsing habits, the ability to index Facebook pages just for you, etc.

Dunno, maybe I’m off my rocker, maybe this does exist, but for me… I’d pay for this.

A comment left on a recent Wall Street Journal article was made by “Jeremy B5″. While initial readers clearly knew this wasn’t me, some folk have taken the comments to heart, so I wanted to both address the comment head-on, as well as talk about one of the core issues of commenting today.

First and foremost, this comment was not made by me. Anyone who knows me or has seen me comment would clearly know this for a few simple reasons:

1. I always comment as me. Even when I later end up sticking my foot in my mouth or saying something stupid, I put my name beside it. I happily sign in with FaceBook Connect or similar services when possible so that folk know it’s me.  I don’t use psuedonyms, I don’t comment anonymously. And, hell, let’s be honest: if I did, I wouldn’t use a weird version of me to do it.
2. Come on, CEOs don’t get their own company’s names wrong. While Word sometimes capitalizes “b5″ as “B5″ at the start of a sentence, I’m religious about getting it right. Hell, at b5 we actually have a plugin that rewrites all references and all misspellings we could think of to the right name (feel free to try it on an official blog, not sure I have the plugin running here). It’s “b5media” or “b5″. Not “b5Media”, “b5 media”, “B5Media”, “B5 Media” or any other variation. And, as my team  knows, if I’m going to combine “b5″ and “Jeremy”, I’ll do it as “b5jeremy”. Lowercase everything. I’ve, in the past, used terminology like b5ads, b5shirts, b5gear, b5ranch, b5tweetup, etc.
3. The biggest reason is that this clearly isn’t how I think about the current situation or about Brightspark.

Mark and the team at Brightspark are completely professionals and, with their operational experience, some of the best VCs in the country. Not only do I believe Mark’s story that the reason they didn’t raise a fund was so they could focus on their internally incubated projects (probably not how he’d describe it, but y’know), I’ve heard from several LPs that they would have happily invested again (in case you’re wondering about ass kissing, several of these LPs have told me funds they wouldn’t invest in again – and then didn’t, so I believe them).

Brightspark no longer actively investing (they continue to support their portfolio companies, actively, including b5… and that support has been invaluable during these tough times because their operational background is critical to our success) is bad for Canada.

But, I’m excited for the future of what they’re doing, as them gaining more operational experience, especially online and media experience, will help dozens of companies should they return to VC (and I sincerely hope they do).

In short, the comment wasn’t made by me, doesn’t represent my views and and is completely unhelpful to the growth of startups in Canada.

Merlene Paynter is a SxSW n00b. She’s blogging her experiences to help you out, entertain you and make you seem smarter than you are when you chill @ southby. Say thanks in the comments.

Yesterday was my first day of my first SXSW. I’d been told by the seasoned SXSW pros not schedule myself for too many things. To remain flexible and go with the flow.

My day began with an early meeting and progressed from there into lunch with a few friends, which transitioned into a Tweet-up hosted by Jeremy Wright, then on to a party thrown by the Blue Sky Factory people. After an hour or so of mingling there we headed off to the Mix at Six party – by the time we got there the party was at capacity so rather than stand around in the rain waiting to get in we decided food might be a good idea before heading to the TechSet party a little later.  A nice dinner with some friends (both old and new) then on to the TechSet party which was fun but was so packed it was hard to talk to anyone.

My lesson after Day 1 – eating is good. Every party, every lunch, every dinner – seemed to involve a lot of alcohol and not a tonne of food. I’ve now learned it’s important to eat whenever and wherever you can. And an interesting thing happens when you do go to find lunch or dinner. You always wind up finding a bunch of friends who either got to the same place first or came in just after you. If you don’t see anyone you know? Just tweet your location and how good the food or cold the beer is. You’ll be surrounded by friends in no time.

And the sessions? Rumour has it there were sessions happening yesterday but I never made it to any. When you go with the flow – you usually just flow from party to party to party. Maybe I’ll make it to a sesson or two today but I wouldn’t count on it.