Marc Sirkin's Mindnumbing Thoughts

Just finished reading " The New Digital Age " which had me thinking of picking up my original copy of " Being Digital " to compare and contrast. Maybe later. It's a good book, thoughtful and smart but at times a bit out there. I wanted to capture here some stats they throw in to set the stage for their assumptions, all stuff we know but it's more good data you can use and quote. The book focuses on BIG issues around digital - statehood, terrorism, politics, society etc... worth a read but it is dense. I admit, I flipped past some of the sections on statehood and politics. Number of people connected to the Internet worldwide increased from 350 million to more than 2 billion In the same period, the number of mobile-phone subscribers rose from 750 million to well over 5 billion (it is now over 6 billion) By 2025, the majority of the world's population will, in one generation, have gone from virtually no access to unfiltered information to accessing...

I read the recent Wired Magazine article on A/B testing websites and like many of you, I wondered to myself if it was actually possible to embrace this sort of design philosophy. After talking with my team , we've redoubled our efforts to design core Key Performance Indicators ("KPIs") in an attempt to actually start using A/B testing as a regular process for updating our site navigation, design choices and whatever else we want to change. It's a disorienting thing, removing subjectivity from the design process. My background as a designer makes me one of those people who can look at a screen and make grand proclamations about where things should be and what they should say. It's something I'm determined to stop doing. I will be honest, it is hard to stop. Either way, we've devised a series of "top level" KPIs designed to measure overall site effectiveness - and we've limited it to 5 measurements. Yes, of course we'll design second...

I used to be an expert. I knew HTML. I was a Photoshop Master of the Universe. I learned how to configure an ISDN router (and it worked). I had time to think about SEO, about how the web worked, about file optimization and video CODECs. Remember when the best web designers and coders built pages that were less than 25k... less than 10k... I remember. Stuff has gotten really complicated lately. And even worse, I feel the Glaze . (the "Glaze" as Mark Bowden refers to it in his incredible book "Worm," is THAT LOOK you get when trying to explain something technical to someone non-technical). The Glaze I get is that non-committal, yea dude, keep talking sort of look when I get really excited about some new technology, idea or concept. The problem is that we're in the land of "we don't actually know what will work and what will not work" when it comes to Internet marketing "stuff" and non-profit fundraising. Yes, we're still here som...

The quantity and quality of online video and video sites continues to skyrocket. This video is hysterical, and perhaps makes some good points to boot. Yes, of course I'm on Google+ , you can find me here and chat me up, hangout with me or put me in various circles. Beware, collegehumor.com is extremely addicting - be sure to also check out the Photoshop Rap as well the amazing  Game of Thrones videos. Enjoy.

I wrote a blog piece for Autism Speaks today on  Collaboration, technology and making things . Had an amazing time at Maker Faire to boot.

Technologically, this just couldn't be any cooler. We live in interesting times for sure.