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World Economic Forum – Captured Via Blogs

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos attracted plenty of star power, including Angelina Jolie, Bill Gates, Bono and Bill Clinton. Before the five-day annual meeting wrapped up, Clinton focused on climate change as a major global issue and Bill Gates offered $900 million in funding to combat tuberculosis.

For highlights from the event, including session summaries, Webcasts and podcasts, click here. You can also check out day-by-day event-related AP blog entries, which detail everything from working conditions for the reporting press to the Women's Leadership Initiative.

Bursting the Hollywood Bubble?

We’ve mentioned the digital home, convergence and new distribution channels that will deliver entertainment content directly to the home.

Factor in a growing home theater market and talk of delivering first-run movies over the Net and we see a common theme here – and it’s spelled h-o-m-e.

And now the talk of Hollywood is all about a new low-budget film from director Steven Soderbergh. Bubble opens in theaters on Jan. 27, the same day it is broadcast in HDTV… and just four days later, it comes out on DVD. Some are calling this new distribution model “fatal” to movie theaters. Others say it ruins the traditional movie-going experience. And some, like Sarah Lacy, say Soderbergh “gets” the future of digital media.

Tom Foremski Likes Us

He really, really likes us.

Yahoo is Groupwise

Sez Business Week.  Yep -- we saw this one coming.

Google -- the Privacy Leader?

Google wins major PR points for resisting the DOJ's request for information in the now-famous COPA case.  The DOJ has filed a motion to compel Google to hand over the info, but Google is hanging tough.  Whatever the motivation -- Google needed those PR points to make good with privacy advocates -- consumers will reward Google for at least trying to stall what could become a rapid descent down a slippery slope for privacy rights. 

But in the end, that may not be enough.  And "don't be evil" may be a too simplistic motto to live by given the realities of the privacy-free world that Google has helped to create.  In an editorial today, The New York Times framed the problem perfectly:

The battle raises the question of how much of our personal information companies should be allowed to hold onto in the first place. Without much thought, Internet users have handed over vast quantities of private information to corporations. Many people don't realize that some innocuously named "cookies" in personal computers allow companies to track visits to various Web sites.... When pressed on privacy issues, Google - whose informal motto is "Don't be evil" - says it can be trusted with this information. But profiling consumers' behavior is potentially profitable for companies. And once catalogued, information can be abused by the government as well.  Either way, the individual citizen loses.

It does matter that Google understands that it can do good or "be evil."   But it matters more that it understands that evil can be forced upon it.  We like Princeton Professor Ed Felton's recommendation that Google elect itself as the "privacy leader," just as Microsoft devoted itself to security back in the 90's.   It would be good behavior and good business.

Buffet Buys Business Wire

Wow.

Fast Times, Fast Food

In The Search, John Battelle recalls how Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page celebrated their first VC score at Burger King.  Now today, The Mercury News recounts how the founders of Sun signed an historic deal with Vinod Khosla at McDonald's.   Not sure what folks outside the Valley imagine how deals are done here, but fast food -- of the extreme variety -- rules.  We love Buck's, but they get way too much credit.   

At the recommendation of his company office manager, we recently gave a McDonald's card to a fast-food-loving client.  He thanked us for this.  We felt better when he told us his cholesterol count is low.

PRWeek Likes New Media

We were wondering if someone would notice.  Someone has.

Check out Constantin Basturea's post about PRWeek.   The PR trade has honored a significant number of new-media campaigns and practitioners for its upcoming awards ceremony.   What a difference a year makes. 

PR and Its Discontents

Tom Foremski asks, where's the disruption in PR?  Everything else in the media ecosystem appears to have been disrupted.   So why not PR? 

He's got a point -- there has not been much disruption in PR, and we're guessing it's because most PR agencies have not yet felt the pain.  Samuel Johnson:  "when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it clarifies his mind wonderfully."  When the final hour draws near, we'll see LOTS of change.  LOTS of innovation.  Watch out.

But there's something else:  the media landscape may be changing, but the stuff of real value in PR -- the creation of lively, meaningful, relevant content -- will remain constant. So, if you're a PR pro who only likes networking, it may be time to hit the books. And if the new BusinessWeek cover story is right, you might want to pick up some math skills while you're at it.  The whole business world is about to get tougher, and PR is no exception.

But if Tom is right, and PR along with the media goes to "hell in a handbasket," who will chronicle this event, and carry said basket?  We elect Tom.  His humor, wit and tongue (sharp) make him a worthy Virgil for the journey to the other side.

“Green – the new red, white and blue”?

Conservation policies, Avian flu, and tech product design driving consumer purchasing were just a few of the topics up for debate at the Churchill Club’s 8th Annual Top Ten Tech Trends Debate, held Thursday evening in Palo Alto.

Tony Perkins, Creator & Editor-in-Chief, AlwaysOn, moderated a panel of five Silicon Valley venture capitalists on what’s to come trend-wise.

Other predictions: Phone bills become a thing of the past with uptake of VoIP and – one topic that drew plenty of debate: Microsoft and Oracle to lose dominance. One topic that captured the attention of the packed room (myself included): reference to the need to prepare for a pandemic that could kill millions. For more insight, check out pieces in The San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Business Times.