Matt Baril

Idea #28 Vancouver IT blog with interviews, latest news, videos, pictures, upcoming events, etc.

My idea is not completely new, but there is nothing quite like this yet and I find it odd. There is Techvibe who is close to doing this, but what I have in mind is a real complete blog completely dedicated to the IT sector in Vancouver and the business world surrounding IT. There should be many articles of the best experts in Vancouver, interviews with successful entrepreneurs, short video reports, pictures. It should be the place everybody interested in IT and business should go to. One thing that would be very useful would be to have a section of all the relevant upcoming events as well.

Money could be made with premium subscriptions, but it would be better to use advertising and conferences to finance the venture. Conferences make connecting with real people easier, add credibility to the blog and are a great marketing tool. Services for venture capitalists should also be provided in order to help young startups and Angel Ivestors connect. The blog, even though virtual, would be extended to real life and would help connect people.

I haven't posted an article for few days, mainly because I'm a little bit at lost right now. I've been reading the so called best Social Media gurus' blogs for some time, I've been buying and reading books, I've been using LinkedIn, Twitter, this blog, I've been attending Social Media events in Vancouver, but it seems something is wrong. I think a lot of bullshit is being said about Social Media and I don't presume to have the answer or hold the truth, but I'd like to see a beginning of a conversation about these issues. I wish current Social Media gurus were taking Social Media more seriously. I wish we could see real debates on Social Media issues and uses. I wish more people were questioning what these gurus are saying. I wish we could have a real and open discussion about Social Media. I made a list of 10 things I believe are wrong about Social Media, but are currently being widely spread. I'll blog about each point over the next few weeks in a special series called "Redefining Social Media Rules."

Here is my list of what I believe are the top 10 bullshit rules about Social Media:

1. Publish often
2. Engage people in a conversation
3. Be available, all the time
4. Publish short posts, or break a long one into many smaller posts
5. Add value
6. Be a content creator
7. Build your tribe
8. Use your common sense, Social Media is obvious and self-explanatory
9. Connect with people in your field
10. Work hard at it and Social Media will pay off

I'm sure you've heard and come across things about Social Media that were total bullshit. What are they? How do you feel about the current positions and opinions that most Social Media gurus hold, does it actually represent the reality? Did I forget some rules or are there some that shouldn't be in the above list? I'll be blogging on each of these 10 rules in the next couple of weeks and try to explain why I believe they're wrong.

Idea #22 Cuisine and recipe website that fully taps into Social Media opportunities: videos, pictures, etc

I love cooking, but I suck at it, so I usually go on a couple of different websites to get the best and easiest recipes. Most websites let users send their recipes and rate them, but when it comes to actually cook it usually feels very lonely. Nine times out of ten, things don't turn out as planned, at least in my experience. My idea would be to have a website that fetches recipes from all the most popular websites, but would allow users to send their pictures and their videos. That would allow people to watch how it's done before actually doing it. On top of that, an online communication tool would make asking questions live very easily and quick. So if you're stuck and nothing works, send a message to other users and wait for a Samaritans to help you out.

Idea #18 Feed of media content that people can love, hate, rate, or link to more content + top lists

Offering a platform that provides feeds or something close to it (like Twitter) on which people can submit pieces of media content such as Videos, Pictures, Audio files etc. Users get to love, hate, insult, rate it or add links to other media contents that are related. The idea is to provide quick, interesting and useful feedback to the content creators. It would be a shine or die kind of thing. Either people love you and you're a hero or people hate what you do and bury your work. There would be top lists every day, week, month and year for the most funny, beautiful, stupid, innovative, boring, etc. piece of content. Money would be made mainly from advertising.

Idea #17 Got the best or worst customer service? Rate your rep! Employers can subscribe & hire

Being a customer representative can be difficult sometimes and it seems like they're never truly acknowledge when they do a great job and people who offer the worst customer service always seem to get away with it. Why not create a website on which customers get to rate their rep based on their name, the place they work, etc. They could be rated on smile, quality of service, professionalism, friendliness, availability, speed of service, etc. Once a rep as signed up, he or she would get to claim the feedback that belongs to them. Employers could pay a premium to have the ability to contact the reps directly for recruitment purposes.