ArabNet: Dot Com Boom Anyone?

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ArabNet is taking place in Beirut on the 25th March. A two day conference, ArabNet aims to provide a regional platform for Web startups that will foster innovation and entrepeneurialism in the Arab world and consists of a load of 'how to' conference sessions featuring high profile international speakers as well as a range of pitching and demoing opportunities such as the Ideathon, which awards cash prizes for the development of the best 3 ideas pitched at the event.

With the strap line 'Trends and Opportunities in Arab Web Business', the event is one of a number of symptoms of a resurgent regional technology sector - Jordan's ICT Forum looks set to take place once again this year after a couple of years off - that's being driven by the web and, yes, the social web.

A series of workshops has been taking place around the region prior to the event in Beirut, aimed at helping young entrepeneurs hone the business cases they're taking along to ArabNet.

Where I find ArabNet interesting is its potential to be more than just a talking shop - with venture capital and investors, the backing of existing regional big names such as Zawya, Maktoob and Aramex as well as important web media properties such as ArabCrunch, the event has every chance of developing as an important part of fostering the fast growth of Web-enabled businesses in the region. We never really had a dot com boom in the region. It'd be interesting to see us having one now - better late than never!

The New Media Law

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This is a depressing column from Abdullah Rasheed, Gulf News' Abu Dhabi editor, today, written on the occasion of the much-delayed debate by the Federal National Council regarding the new Media Law for the UAE. I sincerely believe that Rasheed's words are required reading for anyone living here.

In it, he argues that media freedom has decreased in the UAE and calls for an end to the culture of censorship and silence in response to media that has become so common recently. "journalists battle to get even the simplest information due to non-co-operation of most official bodies" he says.

He points out that the number of UAE National journalists has dropped. And he points to a wide range of other major issues that are contributing to producing a national media that is uncompetitive. That international news sources and the Internet are sought as alternatives by those who feel un-served by the media. "Journalists are no longer doing their duty, meaning that the press is no longer monitoring the peformance of government."

The one point he doesn't make is that media struggling with all these issues are not challenging organisations in the UAE to respond as harshly as they could (and should) be - and the result of that is there is no culture of debate, argument or managing investigative media. You could well argue that a great deal of the negative international coverage has come about because of the inept way in which UAE organisations manage their relationships with international media - precisely because, of course, the counter-critical culture of the UAE is not mirrored elsewhere. To their surprise, UAE 'press officers', and the people they report to, discover all too late that journalists working for international media who are fobbed off or simply told 'there is nothing here' won't stand for it and will not only report, but do so with considerable vigour, too. Worse, they're being aided and abetted by social media. A leaky shark tank is not a minor problem with a malfunctioning valve when consumer-generated footage of an entire mall underwater is out there in the wild, for instance.


Decent spokespeople, sound media policies and sensible media relations can't develop in the absence of an empowered media. Those skills are critical, IMHO, to the future of the UAE as a player on the world stage - and so is a media that is allowed to get on with the job of reporting the facts in service of its readers, listeners and viewers.

Heroes

These heroes decided to escape last night's awful traffic by taking the sandy snicket between Dubai and Sharjah. What on earth made them think that you'd get large lorries and a cement mixer across undulating, churned up desert sand is beyond me. I drove past them laughing at their idiocy and they laughed right back at me with a cheery "Fie mushkila!".

Which just goes to show, everyone's doing Ten Word Arabic these days...

The weather man says we're gonna get an inch of rain tonight and another two tomorrow, which means chaos.

Take care, all of you...

The Inevitable GeekFest Wrapup Post

We didn't know the stupid pies were going to be that size. They were enormous things, the size of a man's outstretched hand and almost impossible to eat decorously, but by golly they were tasty! Apologies to Mr. Goat whose doctor has been nagging him about cholesterol and who was sore tempted by the cornucopia of pieness that presented itself to him as he pitched up for his evening's geekery.

The talks were once again a marvel to behold. The idea of splitting them so that the theatre at The Shelter could empty and give everyone a chance to attend a talk was brilliant (Thanks, @ammouni!) and, IMHO, worked well so we'll be doing that again. Talked to a number of people about the solution to the theatre being too small and the consensus was that it was the very intimacy of the space that contributed (along with the excellence and diversity of the speakers) to the amazing atmosphere and 'vibe' at the GeekTalks. Rabea Ataya, CEO of the highly successful Middle East recruitment website bayt.com, kicked off the evening's talks, followed by 'the Islamic Pampers guy', Mohammed F. Al-Awadhi who had the audience enraptured and marvelling with his talk which, of course, covered everything but Islamic Pampers! Mohammed Ali J, @MaliZOMG and compadre Ritesh not only delivered a great talk, but look like they're going to deliver a smart online student radio station come March 15th too! That's definitely a story to follow.

Last, but no means least, came Susan 'Amazing' Macaulay who shared the background to Amazing Women Rock, talked about some of the more popular stories the site has hosted and neatly crowdsourced a load of help from the assembled geeks!

Along with a number of notable bloggers in attendance, including such luminaries as Jordanian Hussein (Who-Sane), who sadly no longer seems to be blogging, Hellwafashion, The Amazing Susan, Kinan Jarjous and Monsignor Rupert Bumfrey, we also paid host to.. *gasp*... gamers. This worked out rather smartly, thanks in no small part to the shiny little boxes that Buffalo Technology brought along as part of its TechnoCase - gamers don't like wireless because it can be slow and erratic when put under multi-user Quake3 frag that mofo loads. Buffalo wasn't buffaloed, it's fair to say. We'll do GameFest again for sure, as long as @hishamwyne or one of the other gaming types is willing to get it together!


The Microsoft chaps had a good evening, too, I think - and raffled off some stuff at the end. While I'm delighted that a company that huge came along and joined in, I also have some enormous reservations about things like raffles - there's something 'gatekeeper' about them that makes me uncomfortable in the context of an egalitarian free-for-all event like GeekFest. We have been resolute in keeping TechnoCase participation low-key, no-logo, no branding and so on. Is this the way to go? So far the companies that have played along have had solid, good value engagements out of the whole thing and have built some impressive endorsers for themselves. I'd welcome anyone's opinions on this whole area of things.

We didn't really make enough of the ArtStuf side of things this time around and definitely will do more next time - that's at least in part down to participation from digital artists, which we're open to if you happen to know any! However, Faisal Khatib shared a slideshow of his work which was really cool.


What next? GeekFest 4.0 will be on the 22nd April and we'll plan a couple of surprises - nothing too organised, of course! People keep being nice and saying thank you for organising it, but honestly we're not kidding with this 'UNorganised' stuff - we do very little really, just keep saying 'sure' when people come up with smart ideas or ways to participate - by the way, please do feel free to do more of that, folks!

All that apart, I just wanted to say that I'm constantly blown away that something this organic and random keeps generating interest and turns into such wonderful, thought-provoking and entertaining evenings. So thank YOU! :)

Fire Petal Books - Making A Dream Come True

One of the many side-effects of doing the authonomy thing for me has been my membership of a shadowy cabal of revolutionary, anarchist and even occasionally just normal writers from around the world who have kept in touch over the past year and more, generally swapping edits, news, information, help and assistance and quite a lot of 'there there's too.

One of us, US based editor and writer of young adult books Michelle Witte, recently announced to the group that she was going to open a bookshop. She'd had something of a road to Damascus moment and decided that this was what she wanted to do more than anything else - a community bookshop aimed at young people in Utah, a space where reading and books, teaching and community mattered more than the chain-store big business shareholder-driven push for profit.

To my absolute delight, she didn't stop at announcing what she was up to. She set about making it happen with blinding speed. She set up a Kickstarter project, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed and a website, Fire Petal Books.Oh, and a YouTube channel as well!

And then she cast around for people to help with donating items for an auction to help her fund the startup costs - coming up with a list of authors, literary agents, editors and others that is pretty impressive to say the least, including Neil Gaiman, Chris Cleave and many others. Agents and editors, including two editors from Harper Collins have offered manuscript critiques and even a 15-minute phone call! 15 minutes on the phone to a Harper Collins editor is pretty stunning - especially given that HC will only look at agented authors, let alone talk to writers who aren't signed.

Now Michelle's auction is on - you can find details and bid on stuff here. You'll currently need more than $100 to bid for Neil Gaiman's signed copy of Beowulf, but don't let that stop you. She's got stories running on her in Publisher's Weekly and book trade e-publication Shelf Awareness and there's more to come.

I have the feeling that this is one lady whose dream is going to come true. It just goes to show, doesn't it? All you need is guts, determination and the new tools of the online world!

GeekFest Update

Well, GeekFest 3.14 (Geek to the power of Pi) is just around the corner and things are developing faster than boomtime Dubai.

Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo
Not only the longest correct sentence in the English language to use a single word, but also a eight-times repetition of the company putting on of one of our two TechnoCases - Buffalo Technology. They'll be showing the external and NAS storage and wireless stuff wot they does. Alongside them, we have a last-minute surprise here come the cavalry entrance from company wot needs no introduction Microsoft, who'll be sharing some enterprise social media coolery that they wanted to get people's views on.

Oh noes! Gamers!
This GeekFest will see the first GameFest, a fancy phrase for a group of slavering lunatics punching game controllers and keyboards as they get set to frag, blitz and otherwise existentially challenge each other over a networked games setup around 'the big table' at The Shelter. I think this is going to end up being something of an ongoing feature but I think we can all put up with them if they promise not to make too much noise and drool too much. I can also see this developing into a standalone activity, but let's see what happens!

ArtStuf
We're delighted to have Faisal Khatib join us at GeekFest. Professional photographer Faisal will be showing his work on the screens at The Shelter and will be there to talk imagery and associated wonderment. Alongside this one-night showing, The Shelter is also hosting The Portfolio Project, curated by Bidoun, an exhibition of the photography of Yasmin Mohammed. On top of this, we're planning to muck about with some graffiti stuff like last time. It won't be announced, it'll just sort of be happening.

GeekTalks
Detailed here, these are attracting a great deal of attention, so remember it's up to you to make sure you've got a place in the theatre at The Shelter for the talk you really want to see!

Pies!
We'll be having our Pi and eating it in celebration of the 3.14 theme - so if you don't like pie, eat before you come! :)

The GeekFest Brand Identity Image Thing
The fancy GeekFest Twitter page, posters, logos and stuff were designed for us all (Dubai, Beirut and now Amman) by Lebanese designer and general sweetheard Naeema Zarif. It's just one of the many ways in which regionalising GeekFest has changed and expanded the event and made it, IMHO, better.

GeekFest Dubai 3.14 (Geek to the power of Pi) will take place on the 25th February 2010 at The Shelter in lovely Al Quoz (This is da map!). It'll start around the 7.30 mark or whenever everyone turns up. The talks start at 8-ish. You can do the Facebook thing, follow @GeekFestDubai on Twitter or just pop back here nearer the date for more information. The second GeekFest Beirut takes place on the 30th April 2010 (follow @GeekFestBeirut for info - website is www.geekfestbeirut.com) - and watch this space for news on GeekFest Amman, which is likely to happen sometime in March!!

PR, Advertising and Damn Lies

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I occasionally appear as a guest lecturer at EMDI, the Insititute for Media and Communication. This gives me the chance to rage at classes of stunned-looking students, somewhat in the manner of 'Hitler discovers public relations', for a good couple of hours. It's not unusual for me to see them looking like they're about to reach for the mace but don't want to be impolite. I usually work with the PR stream, but have also talked to the events management bunch and also the advertising lot.

It was when talking to the advertising stream that I was asked the question, 'Yes, but isn't public relations just lying?'

The question stopped me in my tracks, I can tell you. I realised that standing there in front of the class just looking like an electrocuted guppy at the girl who had asked the question was beginning to look rude and pulled myself together.

My answer was something along these lines. In all my time as a public relations practitioner, I have never told a lie in my professional life. I have told the truth from all sorts of angles, have highlighted the positive at the expense of the negative and have generally promoted the bejaysus out of all sorts of things, but I have never told anyone an untruth. I have never made a claim I cannot demonstrate or an assertion without proof.

PR cannot function on untruth. You have to have fact - incontrovertible, provable, demonstrable fact to back up your assertions and arguments. If you say you're the market leader, you have to be able to prove it. If you say this product has positive medical benefits, you have to be able to stand them up with research, expert endorsements and the like. Without the facts, PR falls down - publicly, embarrassingly and disastrously. That's one of the reasons we have journalists - to test this stuff and make sure that it passes a standard that our public can accept. Believe me, there's nothing a journalist likes to find more than a PR pushing a lie.

And yet this assertive question comes at me from someone about to embark on a career in an industry that is based on direct lies, telling absolute untruths and misleading people as its most fundamental tenet. The sloganeering of the advertising industry, the use of deliberately misleading images, words, phrases and ambitional role models has never been less than mendacious.

A Mars a day helps you work rest and play. Remember that one? Does it? Really? Or does a Mars a day slap your waddling, sedentary body with 245 calories and a fat content of almost a quarter of its overall volume?

What about Axe? (Or Lynx in some markets) The clear inference is constantly drawn in its campaigns that using the product will pull you chicks. It's so clear that an Indian man is suing Unilever because he's been spraying himself with ammonium skunkate or whatever the stuff is made out of for seven years and hasn't pulled. It's a clear lie - a deodorant won't pull women or make them go crazy. Oh, sure, it's ironic and created for purposes of amusement only. It's playful! But your job isn't amusing, people it's selling. And you're playing with a product benefit that doesn't exist - it's not provable. Show us that 9 out of 10 women find men who wear Axe are hotter than men who don't and you're home and dry.

Or what about all the 'feminine products' that let you be the woman you are? Or the antibacterial airfreshener that makes you a better mum? Or the cheesy Italian stereotypes that punt their animated schtick to pimp a tomato sauce with an Italian name that's made by a British corporate to a recipe conceived in Australia? Wear the Dolmio smile? My butt. What about the yummy seafood for cats that has barely any fish in it - a great case study of how image and language are combined in advertising and product definition to wilfully and knowingly mislead consumers? Or the hair products advertised by a celebrity wearing a wig that looks better than her real hair? Truth?

I'm not going to get bogged in examples - there are a million of them out there. The fact is that advertising has held the megaphone for so long, it is no longer able to see the growing tide of consumers unhappy with being screamed at with slogans that we know don't reflect reality. But consumer voice is growing even in the Middle East, let alone in markets such as Europe (where consumer voice tends to be stronger, oddly, than the US).


We have become used to accepting that companies make claims in their advertising that are simply unsustainable. However, more and more consumers are unwilling to meekly accept those claims - the number of visits to this blog alone researching Pringles and their contents as well as Aquafina, the tap water that would like you think it was natural - are testament to that. And now I'm getting hit after hit on American Food is Crap. People are waking up to this stuff - and to the fact that they're being sold a pup by the advertising industry.

Do PRs tell lies? No, they don't. When they do, they get caught and exposed - and quite right too. Now what's happening is we're starting to apply the same standards to high street brands and, yes, to advertising. We are starting to demand more honesty, more transparency and better standards of accountability.

I'm not saying we should take the creativity out of advertising and promotion. Far from it. But I am saying that you need to base your creative treatments on the truth and not unsustainable assertions - or lies, as I prefer to call them.

Books, Books, Books!

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I have written about Dragon International Independent Arts before. Dragon was founded out of frustration at Harper Collins' authonomy, one of a number of initiatives to have been born out of the great coming together of writers that authonomy has caused. Strangely, I believe these grassroots movements of writers are doing more to define the future of publishing than companies like Harper Collins, still mired (as is much of the publishing industry) in offline thinking. And I am pleased to be able to tell you all that Dragon, for one, is doing very well indeed, thank you.

Founded by SarahJane Heckscher-Marquis, Dragon set out to establish a viable small independent publisher that would give people access to books of quality that had been overlooked by 'the machine', breaking down the barriers between readers and the books they want to read - as Dragon itself has it, 'Books for people who love books'. Sarah's brave move saw a number of the more interesting books on authonomy get put into print. Check them out:

Harbour
Paul House

Set in wartime Hong Kong under threat of Japanese invasion, this is a lush period piece and one of the many books on authonomy that I'd have bought if I had the chance. And now I do - you can buy the paperback here and the good news is that delivery to the UAE (or anywhere else in the world) is free!

1812
M.M. Bennetts

Now I'm going to come right out and say it: this isn't my kind of book. It's a huge historical novel set in the middle of the Napoleonic wars - but it's flawlessley written: I can remember one review on authonomy that made the point that there wasn't a single word out of place in the book and the Historical Novel Review called it 'compelling' and 'vivid'. If you 'do' historical novels, you can buy the paperback here.


Pistols for Two, Breakfast for One
Matthew Dick

Matthew Dick's a silly bugger and much of his silly buggeriness is evident in his excellent book. I remember first reading this book on authonomy and enjoying myself immensely. It's engaging, funny, swaggeringly well-written and redolent of the rather wonderful Terry Thomas school of absolute caddery as it follows the cowardly career of Hugo Hammersley, devious swine and serial womaniser. Buy it here.

Who must I kill to get published?
Jason Horger

There are 10,000-odd manuscripts languishing in the great online slushpile that is authonomy, so it's a dead cert that there are 10,000 people out there asking themselves this very question. A wannabe author finally finds an agent interested in his book only for the agent to turn up dead. Again, a book that was widely admired in its time on authonomy and a very popular one, too - perhaps because it's written with flair and a light, deft touch that is eminently readable. It's also funny and buyable here.

These first four Dragon titles were released in November and are available to bookshops throughout the UK thanks to a distribution deal that Dragon has done with Central Books - and, of course, globally online as the links above prove - don't forget that free delivery now!

Kindle versions will be available from April, too.

Now there's news that Dragon is to publish a further two titles - Heikki Hietala's Tulagi Hotel and Greta van de Rol's Die a Dry Death. Again, both books were popular reads on authonomy.

In fact, SJ has done a neat job of cherry-picking some of the better books from the authonoslush, books that bobbed at the top of the 10,000-odd hopefuls and that stood out because they had that 'something' that makes you want to read the damn thing.

I had originally seen authonomy as a fascinating exercise in democratising publishing through the crowdsourcing that many companies are now finding is an important asset - listening to customers in order to define products and services that better suit their requirements. It's a great use for social media, for instance.

Fed up with being offered discounted copies of Katie Price's ghost-written pap and worse, I had thought the idea of actually selecting books through a filter of peer-review could shake things up a little. That wasn't authonomy's aim, as it turned out, but it is Dragon's and the fact that the company has not only survived but is expanding its list (they're also getting involved in non-fiction and possibly even film) to other media is something I am following with great interest and a raa raa for the li'l guy.


 

GeekFest Cometh

GeekFest Dubai is happening this Thursday, the 25th Feb at The Shelter in Al Qouz. Titled GeekFest 3.14 (Geek to the Power of Pi), it promises to be a fun evening of stuff, including pie (of course), a TechnoCase from Buffalo Technologies and some random arty stuff as well as a chance to hang around and chat to fellow minded online people. We've only got the one TechnoCase because the other two confirmed verbally and then decided not to do it at the last minute, meaning that nobody else got the chance. Thanks for that, chaps. If anyone does want to do a TechnoCase on Thursday, we've got space.

The stars of the show, as always, will be the GeekTalks - once again four talkers will share insight, viewpoint and erudition in equal measures. This time around we're staggering the talks a little so that we don't get so many of the usual "I couldn't get a seat in the cinema all evening" complaints, so there'll be two talks starting at 8pm and two starting at 9pm. We'd like your views on that arrangement and are totally up for changing it to something everyone thinks is more sensible!

The GeekTalks

Do you need a business plan? 
Rabea Ataya

Entrepreneurs are continually told to create a business plan as the first step in preparing for success.  When is a business plan a valuable exercise? When does it lead to the failure of a business?  What are the requisites to a useful plan?  How have the most successful businesses in the world risen to the top without business plans?

Rabea Ataya is the founder and CEO of Bayt.com and is passionate about promoting entrepreneurship and youth employment in the region. He got nominated by Dan Stuart.


Islamic Pampers Design
Mohammed F. Al-Awadhi

In his presentation Mohammed will be touching upon topics that are part of people's daily life. We will see how Islam plays a major role in peoples lives and how changing the design of pampers targets certain people. He will also answer some questions that come in people’s minds in regards to Emarati looks. 

Mohammed Farshid Al-Awadhi is an Emarati architect and entrepreneur. He has established 2 companies, Toolz technical services and KZA Architects. He is also president of the MBA Club in the American University of Dubai and is one of the board directors of the Architectural Association of UAE [AAUAE]. He got nominated by Omran Al Owais.

Student Radio
Muhammed Ali J (better known to many as @maliZOMG) & Ritesh J

Between the both of them, Muhammed and Ritesh have experienced the entire private education system in the UAE, from prep school to their undergraduate degrees. In this time they noticed how, more often than not, students were not taken seriously or given the opportunity to grow. Ritesh & Muhammed Ali will share their thoughts on an online radio station, broadcasting for students, student issues and student life in the UAE. We’ll also get to hear a little bit more about their pet project ZOMG! Inc. They got nominated by us.

From FAIL to Fame &Back Again: Random Adventures in AmazingLand
Susan Macaulay

Susan Macaulay (aka AmazingSusan) is a wannabe geek and creator of amazingwomenrock, a website for amazing women and those who appreciate them. A quirky rebel with a cause; passionate about #PINK, womens' issues, learning and life, Susan stumbles around blindly on Twitter and Facebook bumping into cool people, ideas, and stuff. Has so far managed to avoid a major crash. She'll be talking about the amazingwomenrock project - where it came from, where it's at and where it's going! Susan got nominated by us too!

GeekFest Dubai 3.14 (Geek to the power of Pi) will take place on the 25th February 2010 at The Shelter in Al Quoz. You can do the Facebook thing, follow @GeekFestDubai on Twitter or just pop back here nearer the date for more information. The second GeekFest Beirut takes place on the 30th April 2010 (follow @GeekFestBeirut for info - website is www.geekfestbeirut.com) - and watch this space for news on GeekFest Amman, which is likely to happen sometime in March!!

Etisalat's Emails - Phish off!

You can only imagine the joy deep in my  black heart this morning when I received an email from the telco that everyone who's not a Du subscriber loves to hate, Etisalat, snappily titled "Security Alert - Beware of Email Fraud Disguised as Official Emails".

We've all got these stupid mails from Weisatwit before. I've blogged about 'em before too. Surely they must have learned by now from the online howls of derision that accompany these well-intended but knuckle-headed emails. Apparently not.

The email, immortally, once again contains the words: "Etisalat will never email links, or call you, asking for such information." as well as, of course, a number of links to online forms asking for your name, email address and telephone number ('personal information'). The site itself also requests a user name and password as a log-on.

Of course, we could all rest assured that the user base has already been educated about computer security by the pathetic radio ads being run by UAENic, which purport to be raising 'public awareness', in which a voiceover artist doing a bad fake of an Emirati with a cold trying to English tells us 'I am Salim. Don't download undrusded zoftwares widge good arm your gombuter.' I initially thought this would at least be one of a series ('Don't run wiz zizszors in ze ovice'; 'Don't drawl born sites wizout bobub bloggers') but sadly, no. It's just the one repeated piece of useless advice that is of no utility whatsoever to anyone with enough intelligence to successfully switch a computer on. And who the hell is Salim anyway and why do we want to know?

You have to wonder about the security standards being applied to public networks and resources here when the standard of communication regarding security is so utterly woeful.