'Misrata Devastation'

This is the front cover of today's Gulf News Paper Edition. You may notice that instead of the expected devastation captioned above, we have a bright yellow sticker advertising Nestlé bottled water. Only when removing the sticker can you see the front page headline picture.

I have railed against this before. I simply can't see how it makes sense for any of the three parties to the transaction. How can it make sense to Gulf News to sell its most valuable editorial real estate like this? Removing the sticker also removes the newsprint below, leaving the image degraded. The message is so far at odds with the content, it's almost ludicrous. This is where the second party to the transaction comes in - how does Nestlé Middle East or Nestlé's agency honestly think it effectively positions the company's brand to have it so strongly associated with negative headlines and editorial connotations?

I have spent years dealing with advertisers who want to promote their products only within the context of the best, most positive and relevant editorial environments, and yet here's Nestlé gladly occupying 'Misrata Devastation'! Are they mad? The irritation provoked by the daft placement of the message, let alone having to remove it, has had nothing but a negative connotation for the Nestlé brand for readers, as far as I can see.

As it happens, this particular example is, I would humbly submit, worse than usual. Do you really want your brand linked to the (appalling) devastation of Misrata? Or the terrifying and saddening events in Syria? But it's never going to be good - front pages are sold on the basis of negative news. When was the last time you saw a pregnant panda leading the news*? It's a no-brainer, surely. The front page is negative and the front page, if the editor has done his/her job, the news we really, really want to see. Not have stickered by inane advertising.

And now last, and I suspect least, we come to the third party to the transaction. The hapless reader/subscriber. In having to remove this silly sticker in order to view the front page of the newspaper, I have been presented with a momentary irritation. I could understand in these internet days of 'freemium' models if I had accepted a downgraded experience in return for a free product, but I didn't. I paid for Gulf News.

And yes, thank you, I do feel better now.

* A caveat to that point is provided by the newspaper that thinks a small boy getting his private parts stuck in his zip is a news story. Perhaps interestingly, the same reporter contributed, seven days earlier, "Emirati Bobbitised by Bangladeshi". It's just the way news breaks, folks. It's not an indication of any sort of fascination...

The Last Geek Fest Dubai

Well, the last one at the ‘old Shelter’ anyway... Yes! It's GeekFest time again - next Thursday, the 28th April, at 7.30PM is to be our last, *sob* GeekFest at the place of its birth!

GeekFest Dubai – Goodbye, dear Old Shelter!

We’re bidding a fond farewell to ‘The Old Shelter’, the next GeekFest Dubai will be at the new, painfully funky venue the Shelter team is constructing elsewhere in Al Quoz – we’ll have details of the amazing ‘New Shelter’ to share on the night. Alongside the Shelter Update, GeekFest will feature a mobile applications showcase (well, why not?), some fabby GeekTalks and The Biggest Picture In The World. What more could you possibly want, folks?

GeekFest Mobile

We’re putting on a mobile showcase for app developers: we’ve invited some of the leading mobile applications developers in Dubai to showcase what they’re up to at GeekFest – including ishopaholic, CareZone, and more! They’ll be demoing apps as well as answering questions about platforms, markets, opportunities and whatever else you want to bug them about. !

Geek Talks

World Bloggers Day 
What are we going to do about bloggers?
Ion Gonzaga is by passion and profession a web designer, as well as being a keen blogger and online socialite. He’s been tapped by World Bloggers Day to raise the word among the UAE’s bloggers. How do you want to mark World Bloggers Day? Any ideas? Ion’s looking for feedback and participation alike during this GeekTalk session! If you’re interested, you can check other countries' agendas at www.worldbloggersday.org. There’s already a page created at www.worldbloggersday.org/dubai!

MidEast Posts 
Content aggregation = voices of the region together
Blog aggregator, voice of the region, the Arab Huffington post or an online newspaper? MidEast Posts represents probably the most diverse and vibrant reading from around the Middle East every day. Co-Founder David Westley takes us through the voices of bloggers from around the region and how MidEast Posts plans to represent those voices.

Voila Dubai 
A community to serve the community
Voila Dubai is a new initiative that plans to bring the city to life through reviews of its places to go and things to do – sharing consumer feedback within a community. Narain Jashanmal explains the idea behind the site – and takes a look at the development of the region’s new digital platforms and innovations.

Malaak, Angel of Peace

The Angel of Peace
Creating content, popularising content, funding content
Malaak, Angel of Peace, is a highly popular Lebanese cartoon strip created by Joumana Medlej, the prolific multimedia and digital artist and graphic designer. The strip has gone from strength to strength, growing in popularity as it has in scope – and is now in its fifth book. Joumana’s travelling from her native Beirut and will be be talking about the story behind Malaak as well as looking at the innovative online fund raising methods she’s now using to fund the new book of the Malaak story.

Stuff

The World’s Largest Picture 
45 Gigapixel image to be auctioned for charity
What do The Next Web, Engadget, CNET, Wired, Gulf News, Gizmodo, Geek.com, The Independent, Popular Science, Petapixel, and countless other websites and publications have in common with HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum?

They all covered Gerald Donovan’s amazing panoramic image of Dubai’s skyline (Sheikh Mohammed on his Facebook page!) – at the time of its creation, it was the world’s biggest digital photograph. The 45 GIGApixel image was stitched together from thousands of zoomed images into one enormous, incredibly detailed image. To celebrate the first anniversary of its digital unveiling, Gerald has re-rendered the image using the latest software to correct stitching errors in the original version. And now - for the first time ever - it's being printed.

There will only ever be ten copies printed, each one something like an incredible twenty feet by four feet.

The first signed print, numbered 1/10, will be auctioned for charity, and it’ll be on show for the first time at GeekFest. What we want to know from you is WHICH charity should it be sold off for?

GameFest

Powered by tbreak.com, who are also the team behind GeekFest Abu Dhabi, GameFest will feature, once again, the chance to act like a fool or kill people or even both!

Eats and deets

There is no registration, no formality, no requirement of you other than to turn up and even that's optional. As usual, catering from the wonderful folks at LimeTree Café! There’s bound to be some other stuff cropping up, so do feel free to keep in touch – you can follow @GeekFestDubai on Twitter or find us on Facebook. If you've never been to The Shelter before, there's a map (as well as a funky GeekFest video) on the Shelter website here.

GeekFest will sort of start 7.30pm-ish on Thursday 28th April and will, as usual, end when everyone goes home. The talks will start at 8.00pm and this time we'll be keeping an eye on the clock! You have been warned! :)

I'm Going To Write A Book!

Image via WikipediaHow many times has that thought been thunk? From that point onwards, a number of things can happen. The most likely is nothing whatsoever. The least likely, believe me, is actually finishing the damn thing. And then comes the hard part - if you thought writing 100,000 words of readable prose was daunting, try getting anyone to look at it, let alone agree to represent it. And that's before you even consider whether anyone wants to publish it.

Let alone actually buy it.

Here's my guest post about getting an agent on Australian author Phillipa Fioretti's blog. If this doesn't put you off the idea of writing books, you're probably on the path to success already :)

Dubai Runs Out Of Petrol

Image via WikipediaYou couldn't make it up, could you? Dubai, part of major oil producing nation the United Arab Emirates, has run out of fuel. Seriously. Look, it's in a real, honest-to-goodness newspaper: Dubai's super-smashin' tabloid Seven Days.  

Gulf News, BTW, filed the story as a brief, linked here, nestled at the bottom of page 28 in regional business news.

Now to be honest, this isn't first time we've seen one of the world's richest oil producing nations running out of petrol. I've posted in the past about how ADNOC - the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company - caused massive queues after its pricing policy meant it literally couldn't keep up with demand. And Emarat has had similar problems in the past - last year, queues at the company's pumps were caused by shortages, with explanations differing apparently - This story in GN last year contained this telling quote:

"Emarat is finding it difficult to get bank loans to enable it continue to sell petrol below cost, so it's trying to ration the limited quantity of gasoline it has. The company is incurring a daily loss of about Dh2 million due to the subsidy on the fuel and compensation from other businesses such as convenience stores isn't enough to cover the losses," an Emarat source told Gulf News.

A later version of the story was filed over six hours later. It's the same as the story above except it cites 'technical issues' rather than the subsidy issue discussed in the earlier version of the story. The later file is linked here.Whether the issue was 'technical'or not, GN appears to have accepted the later explanation given by the company of the shortage being caused by a: "technical problems in the logistics supplies of gasoline product in the major reservoirs." rather than the juicier subsidy angle and look forward to 'clarification' at Emarat's convenience.


Gulf News' piece online yesterday gave no reason for Emarat's shortages and 7Days notes Emarat wasn't 'available for comment'. We can only assume 'technical issues' are once again to blame.

As usual, it's the poor old cabbies who are getting screwed over the most. Dubai Transport cabs are restricted to filling up only at Emarat stations, so they're getting increasingly desperate as their fuel gauges hit 'empty' and the forecourts do the same.

Best Burger Bullies Blogger

And you thought that every restaurateur in the Middle East learned a clear lesson from the awful public relations disaster that was triggered when the fools behind Benihana Kuwait decided to try and bully Kuwaiti blogger Mark '2:48AM' Makhoul into retracting a blunt view of their restaurant? Think again.

Omani blogger Omani Cuisine reports receiving an email threatening legal action after posting the unflattering review of Best Burger linked here for your listening pleasure.

The Benihana disaster represented a new low in Middle East media freedoms at a time when we all watched the new highs of Tunis and Tahrir. Let's just hope that the bullies at Best Burger fast come to realise this is not the way to go if you don't want a great deal more unwelcome attention and opprobrium than the original post would have generated - particularly if it had been taken - in the spirit that blog posts are almost invariably intended - as valid customer feedback!

Signed

Image via WikipediaJust a quick note to let you know I have signed with London based literary agent Robin Wade of Wade and Doherty. This means Robin will now exclusively manage the sale of my full-length novels - he's been shopping Beirut at the London Book Fair this week.

After something over 200 rejections (it could actually be as high as 250, but I can't be bothered counting) from agents over the years, it's nice that Beirut has broken through. Robin's looking for interested publishers, so the fat lady hasn't sung yet by any means, but it's a huge step forwards in my goal of getting my books into publication.

Many of those rejections were just a case of me flinging myself repeatedly against the same old walls, knowing no better and learning my lessons the hard way. I'm sure someone more competent could have managed the same progression with a tenth of the knock-backs. But you can't keep a deluded nincompoop down (see my earlier post about the wonders of the Dunning Kruger effect!).

I'm in little doubt about the realities of publishing in the modern world, it's not the road to riches people seem to think it is. But as I told The National's Anna Seaman in the charming profile piece she was so kind to do about me, "The biggest challenge for me at the moment is getting a book published. I'm angry about it; it's something I really want to achieve."

I'll let you know what happens...

Kindles - The Luddite View

Cover via AmazonI have been arguing at some length with young friend Eilidh about the merits of Kindles. As many will know, I am something of a Kindle fanboy, but Eilidh (the older sister of godson 'The Jack') has been holding out in favour of the smell of an honest book.  Eilidh and The Jack have been down in London staying with us over a weekend of blue skies and visits to steam railways and aerodromes and the argument has been raging throughout the idyll.

Eilidh's Parthian shot was delivered after her departure for the train taking her back to Scotland - a fleeting knock on the door and delivery through the post box ensured I had no chance to refute her outrageous claims this time around.

So as she has gone to such lengths to have the last word, I shall present her argument here for perusal  by the intellectual elite that occasionally sees fit to ramble past these parts.

Eilidh's Ten Reasons Why Books Are Better Than Kindles

1. You can't get a signed copy of a Kindle book.

2. You can't get picture books on a Kindle.

3. You can't get First Editions.

4. You can't read in the bath or the poolside in case it gets wet.

5. You can't break the spine.

6. You can't make paper aeroplanes with a Kindle when you're bored.

7. You can't light a fire with a Kindle in an emergency.

8. You can't give all your old Kindle books to the charity shop.

9. I can't get Kindle books from the Alloa library.

10. Books smell good, Alex, face it! :P

She is, of course, quite wrong...

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

Image by Hummy via FlickrYou may have noticed a distinct quietness breaking out around these parts recently. This is mainly due to the fact I'm on leave and having an unusually analogue break in the sunny UK. And, yes, I am loving it.

Among other aspects of my analogueness, I've been taking a peek at the upcoming London Book Fair, which will see London's Earl's Court packed with tank-tops and smoking jackets as literary salons and bookish discussions break out all over the place like slow-moving, if terribly brilliant, fireworks. One option open to page-filling peeps is the Digital Conference, which appears to me to entirely miss the point by charging £355 for attendance (while, of course, the digital world would mount an event with likely better content for free and with unlimited access). The conference appears to be discussing topics that lie somewhat behind the curve ("Business as usual – but different. Publishers are having to change their traditional business models in order to survive and thrive.") , but then I may just be getting ahead of myself. It's also the most expensive gig at the whole LBF - selling on fear, perhaps?

In the meantime, my eye was caught by a proud link to the United Arab Emirates' country profile in 'Global Publishing Markets'. Apart from the profile being positively ancient (2005? Why on earth would I be interested in the shape of the UAE's publishing market fully six years ago - and four years before the Emirates LitFest started charting its transformational course?), it does rather tend to write off the role of the regional market in favour of the more high profile and accessible UAE.

Anyway, I'm just sniping (and, arguably, rambling). If you're interested in book fairs and likely to find yourself attending the Sydney Writers' Festival on the 16th May, do take a shufti at pal and bestselling debut author Phillipa Fioretti's workshops, "Where Preparation Meets Opportunity: Creating Writers' Luck" - it's linked here.

Dehumanising or Brilliant Advertising?

Image via WikipediaThere's an interesting image in today's soaraway Gulf News that isn't posted up on its website (well, I couldn't find it anyway). It's on page 36 at the bottom and it's captioned 'Moving Boards'. Under the headline is a night-time picture of four unhappy-looking people walking past a busy street café with big, flat digital advertising boards strapped to their backs. The first in line certainly looks as if the thing is weighing him down - his half-lidded eyes and listless demeanour don't speak of a man having fun. But then how many of us think our idea of fun is being made to parade around the streets with large digital advertising screens strapped to our backs?

I first saw this idea applied in Jordan a couple of years back and was appalled by it then. I though the sandwich board man was an image of recession, or a nutter proclaiming the end of the world is nigh. But to find people being used like this to tout advertising messages simply strikes me as abusive.

According to Gulf News' well thought-out caption, "The moving boards with its (sic) mobility, visibility  and human interaction has big potential to increase public awareness." What? Human interaction? Where's the interaction between the disinterested diners and the four shambling men being made to parade Etisalat's advertising messages around on their backs all night? They're not interacting, they're merely beasts of digital burden.

Or am I being a silly, mealy-mouthed, do-gooding, pinko commie liberal?

Wittering About Twitter

Image via WikipediaTwitter remains a very powerful communication tool indeed - in fact, I'd say it's getting more powerful by the day. One thing I had noticed recently is that this blog is getting more traffic referred from Twitter or Twitter clients than it gets from Google Search, which is something of an inflection point, I think.

Now I'm hardly about to make claims about Twitter being bigger than Google based on the trickling traffic to a marginal little blog in the middle of nowhere. But I did think the event worth noting.

Twitter is a great medium for pimping content - whether you're pushing your blog, your ebook or the article you just posted for a newspaper, it lets people share the links and, where the link is interesting, the power of the retweet will ensure hundreds, then thousands of people will see it within seconds flat. I've made the point before, specifically over here at the Spot On blog, that retweets mean exponential growth in the number of eyeballs exposed to a message. Because of the nature of Twitter in the Middle East, still at an early adopter stage, that audience tends to be strong on communicators, media people and journalists.

I don't always remember to tweet links to posts but there are a couple of aggregators that do, so there's usually a link or two to the blog floating around on Twitter somewhere. One result of this Twitter traffic has been the fact that people frequently comment about blog posts on Twitter. Which I find slightly odd, I have to say...