As we move from blogging to micro-blogging, there is also a move towards micro-street art.

Rush Hour. Copyright Slinkachu

Rush Hour - long shot. Copyright Slinkachu

“Little People in the City” brings together collected photographs of Slinkachu, a street-artist who for several years has been leaving little hand-painted people in the bustling city to fend for themselves, waiting to be discovered.  “Little People” a little, chunky and compact book is published in the UK on 9 September 2008.

Did I also mention that my daily paper fix comes from the FT. I dip into the FT most mornings prior to heading up to the Outblaze office at Cyberport. The FT is one of the dailys that Starbucks at Cyberport have on the racks.

This morning there is a really interesting article on Rob Small CEO of MiniClip.com. “Type the word “games” into Google and top of the resulting list of 1,080,000,000 (1bn) searchs is MiniClip.com. That is a sign of the popularity among internet users that this London-based company has achieved since starting up on a budget of £40,000 seven years ago”. This FT article on MiniClip gives an insight into one of the leading casual game operators.

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Today I stumbled across Guy Kawasaki’s blog: How to change the World – A practical blog for impractical people.  Guy is ex Apple, a Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine, and author.

The story I came across was a video of a speech he gave on The Art of the Start which is based on one of his books.  This 40 min video covers his 10 point start-up plan.

1. Make meaning
2. Make a mantra
3. Get going
4. Define a business model
5. Weave a map (acronym for: milestones, assumption & task)
6. Niche thyself
7. The 10, 20, 30 rule (10 slides, 20 mins & 30 point font size)
8. Hire infected people
9. Lower barrier to adoption
10. See the clouds
11. Don’t let the bozos grind you down

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In the last posting I mentioned heaven to me is having the time over the weekend to sit down with my two favourite magazines The Economist and Flight International to catch up on news.  That’s getting more and more difficult these days as we have two small kids.

In Flight International over the last few months there has been some interesting trends, brought about by a renewed interest in turbo prop aircraft given the increased cost in the price of crude oil.  Typically turboprops burn about 30% less jet fuel per seat compared to the average jet, which can add up to big bucks for airlines struggling with fuel bills that have nearly doubled from a year ago.

During the last 20 years turbo props have been the poor relation to to the jet. In the over 50 seat sector the market has shaken out.   Two key manufacturers remain – ATR and Bombardier with the Dash 8 (formerly de Havilland Canada purchased originally by Boeing and latterly by Bombardier).

Gone are the likes of the Vickers Vicounts, and work horses like the Hawker Siddley HS748 and its replacement the BAE ATP, Saabs and Fokkers to name but a few.

In the under 50 seat market there is beginning to be a resurgence of the turboprop with some old marques being re-manufactured by companies that have acquired the original blue prints and type certification authority from the aircraft’s original manufacturers.  These re-manufactured aircraft are filling a gap for sturdy utility aircraft and for existing turboprop operators with ageing aircraft fleets looking at expansion or fleet renewal.

Recent examples have been:

Britten-Norman, who are bringing back into production the B-N Islanders
(2 crew + 8 seats)

Gippsland who are bring back the Australian workhorse the GAF Nomad
(2 crew + 12 seats)

RUAG who are bring back the Dornier 228 New Generation
(2 crew + 19 seats)  The Dornier 228 with its droopy nose must be one of the ugliest turboprops!

Viking who are bring back the (DHC-6) Twin Otter Series 400
(2 crew + 19 seats)

Antilles who are bring back the late 1930’s flying boat the Grumman G-21H Goose (2 crew + 8 seats).  Given worldwide there are no other seaplane manufacturers, Antilles could have the seaplane market to itself well into the future.

The story of how two friend V.L. Manuel and Tim Henderson when looking to purchase a seaplane ended up purchasing the remaining stock of original spares for the G-21 Goose, the original drawings and certification rights from 92 year old Dean Frankin of Franklin Aviation Enterprises (a broker of old aircraft based in Miami) is detailed in an article in Bushiness North Carolina. The FAA has now given approval for the revived Antilles Seaplanes G-21 Super Goose to start final assembly.  A production certificate is expected in mid 2009.

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This is a reposting as I overwrote the original post by accident!
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Heaven to me is having the time over the weekend to sit down with my two favourite magazines and catch up on news. The Economist and Flight International.

I’ve been an avid Economist print edition reader since 1990 and recently was asked to do a review of the 2008 edition of the economist.com for Haymarket’s weekly Media.   What I love about the Economist print edition is its no-nonsense reporting and simple uncluttered magazine design.  I tend to use Economist.com when travelling and need my Economist fix or when I am researching something and want the Economist perspective.

The review below appeared in Media on 21 August 2008 under Reader’s Pick.

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Steve Davies of Javelin Wealth Management in Singapore writes a regular blog – JavBlog.  Steve takes a very level headed approach to what is currently going on in the financial markets.

An interesting comparison for ad prices is provided by the PubMatic AdPrice Index.  They have recently posted their findings for May, June and July 2008.

And efficient frontier, have recently published their comments on the “US Search Engine Performance Report: Q2 2008″.

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The Activ8 team are experimenting with some new analytical blogging tools [watch this space for news on HIIDRA].  So as part of the “dog fooding” process Activ8’s Peter Burton has been generating some additional content for the Activ8 Blog.

Mephisto is the third generation adserving platform that Activ8 have been developing in the background over the last 3 years. It brings together a lot of the founding teams learning from SPACEAsia, from being part of CMGI media company engage and most recently acting as a publisher for the Outblaze media properties.

Mephisto’s yield management methodology borrows elements from the airline, supermarket and the express distribution industries.  The common thread is yield maximisation and the associated decision tools used.

Sir Colin Marshall’s when he was CEO of BA in the 1990’s would describe an airline seat as “the ultimate perishable item” and that once an aircraft had taken off with an empty seat, how, the airline had lost the opportunity to earn revenue.

A banner on a website can be viewed similarly. Selling an ad on a website is not much different from filling an airline seat with a fee paying passenger.

With the reduction in hardware costs, the increase in raw computing power, the use of CRM and data-mining techniques; this “black art”; of yield management is becoming more and more affordable and is helping drive ROI by allowing trends to be spotted in near real time as massive amounts of data are processed and analysed.

Airlines work on the yield management equation across a number of hard and soft areas within their business, linked by their Yield Management and CRM systems.

On the hard side they look at how at any point in time an aircraft is filling up. Based on real data built up over the years they look to maximise the yield from each seat:

• on each and every aircraft
• on each and every route
• from each and every destination and
• from each currency unit at any point in time.

The above dictates how the tickets are sold and the management of over booking.

Yield management one might say is the alchemist stone of airline profitability. Correctly handled it can yield gold for the shareholders. Badly handled it can yield disaster, for a failure in yield management amounts to a failure to make the most of a hugely expensive aircraft.

The leading full service carriers like Cathy Pacific and the new low cost carriers like JetBlue, easyJet, Ryan Air are now taking this to the next stage incorporating sophisticated online demand based pricing too into their e-marketing tool sets.

On the softer side airlines also manage very carefully their loyalty programmes. Gone are the days when you could flirt with the check-in clerk and hope to get an upgrade. Today any upgrade is directly linked to your personal value to the airline. In a vastly competitive market airlines are continually looking at ways of retaining existing customer and rewarding their best and most loyal customers. What’s sometimes called “differential servicing”. With the data that is available from their loyalty programmes they are continually looking to WOW their members, reinforce their brand and keep you, the passenger, flying with them.

I came back from ad:tech in Hamburg last year on my birthday on Cathy Pacific. I was greeted when I arrived at check-in, and automatically upgraded to the next class. On the flight at breakfast I had a birthday card and a little present from the crew. WOW. This was something that cost Cathy next to nothing, except in the organisation and execution of the back-end processes to make this WOW a reality (something not to be underestimated).

So we have dealt with Mephisto and Airlines, now to the final part Mathematics.  In maximising the return on selling airline seats or selling ads within a websites requires the application of mathematics in various guises.

I thought to end I would leave you with a quote from Prof. Michael Guillen PhD of Harvard University. In the Introduction to his book “Five equations that changed the world” (Abacus Books, 2000) he has this quote :

“In the language of mathematics, equations are like poetry. They state truth with a unique precision, convey volumes of information in rather brief terms, and often are difficult for the uninitiated to comprehend. And, just as conventional poetry helps us to see deep within ourselves, mathematical poetry helps us to see far beyond ourselves – if not all the way up to heaven, then at least out to the brink of the visible universe”.

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Hong Kong – 13 June 2008

Pony tailed Tom Stader, is a driven young man. He set-up and launched The Library Project in 2006. Activ8 is pleased to be associated with The Library Project by running their ads as our default banners.  Donating this unsold inventory helps support the The Library Project’s fund-raising efforts and their mission of providing libraries to under financed orphanages and elementary schools in rural areas.

Tom recently spoke at Wed Wednesday in Hong Kong. He gave a very insightful outline of how, with help from friends and fans of The Library Project he has used the internet as a viral marketing tool to support fund raising activities.   In his presentation Tom outlined how The Library Project donates books and libraries to under financed schools and orphanages in rural areas by:

• Getting the local community involved through book drives and awareness raising
• Providing libraries to under financed orphanages and elementary schools
• Partnering with local NGOs (charities)

On the Web Wednesday Hong Kong website there is a pod cast of Tom’s Library Project presentation.   Tom’s slide presentation is a great viral marketing case-study and a must-look for anyone interested in viral marketing.  Tom has done an absolutely amazing job on a shoe-string budget.  I urge you to add your support to to The Library Project’s fund-raising efforts.

Here is a Tom being interviewed by The China Business Network.

And, here is the The Library Project Facebook Group.

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Hong Kong – 1 December 2007

Today we were welcomed aboard the ORBIS DC10 flying eye hospital which is in Hong Kong on a goodwill visit.  On 10 Dec 2007 it  heads to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  Not only is the ORBIS flying eye hospital aircraft equipped with the latest laser eye surgery equipment, a fully functional operating theatre and anesthesia recovery room for treating patients and for training local doctors, it host a full audiovisual editing suite that allows the volunteer medical staff to share their expertise with a larger audience assembled in the aircraft’s classroom.

Founded in 1982, ORBIS strives to eliminate avoidable blindness and restore sight in the developing world, where 90% of the world’s blind live. To date, more than three million people have received direct medical treatment and more than 124,000 healthcare professionals have enhanced their skills through ORBIS programs in over 80 countries.

At the heart of ORBIS is the world’s only flying eye hospital, a DC-10 wide-body aircraft converted into an innovative teaching facility and ophthalmic surgical centre. Many of the world’s leading surgeons, anesthetist and theatre staff donate their time to perform surgery and teach aboard the aircraft.

ORBIS have a long association with Hong Kong. In 1991 local businessman Y.C. Ho donated US7m of the US14m needed to purchase this DC10 aircraft. Activ8 supports the ORBIS flying eye hospital program by donating unsold inventory to ORBIS and run their ads as our default banners. Donating this unsold inventory helps ORBIS support their mission of saving sight and restoring vision in countries where millions have little or no access to eye care.

ORBIS DC10 flying eye hospital.

ORBIS DC10 flying eye hospital layout.

ORBIS flying eye hospital – senior operating theatre sister.

ORBIS flying eye hospital – operating theatre.

ORBIS flying eye hospital – anesthetic recovery room.

Click here to learn more about the ORBIS flying eye hospital. Click here to see some ORBIS flying eye hospital movies. And, click here to make a donation to ORBIS.

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New York, 5 to 8 November 2007

The Activ8 team were at Ad:tech New York, the premier online advertising show in the USA.

Over the course of the week the Activ8 team met with a large number of existing partners discussing how the last quarter sales can be expanded in the USA and globally as well as sourcing potential new partners.