Trade Me turns 10 - view the story on 3news.co.nz.  Some interesting statistics towards the end of the piece …

“The numbers speak for themselves. Every day around 180,000 items are listed on Trade Me, of which 60,000 are sold. There are well over two million active users, and every day almost 500,000 different people visit the site.”

I managed to get along to ad:tech in Sydney last week.  Enjoyed the key notes and many of the sessions (was reminded of a downward quality curve as day progresses graph though).  Conference-wise, what impressed me most were the four Twitter streams set up and promoted to attendees (and non-attendees) to converse, joke, comment and add insights through the entire conference. Hash tags (#) means searchable on Twitter ergo #ATSYD refers to the general conference stream, with #ATSYD1, #ATSYD2, #ATSYD3 used for the three breakout rooms running contemporaneous sessions.  At times I suspect there was more in-room Twitter participation than directed at the speaker.

Someone posted that tweating in conference is akin to passing notes in class and it certainly felt that way to me; slightly disrespectful to a speaker trying to carry the audience through a complex thought process as laptops and phones are furiously typed.  But the upside is huge.  4000 tweats got crunched down, a whole lot of attendees got to know each other via Twitter, we got to comment directly to the speakers and panels immediately following the sessions.  It was a highlight of the event and added tremendous value to the sessions.

One of the key themes this year was the movement of brands into the online conversation rather than merely being a flash sideshow.  There were numerous case studies of integrated use of social media to drive campaigns.  Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, mobile, web and WOM (word of month) combining to build communities.  The emphasis on social media to reach consumers over-shadowed search and display, despite the obvious dominance of the latter two sectors.  Being in the online display business was almost redefined as traditional media!

I really enjoyed the first keynote, Nick Brian (CEO, Mediabrands) who stated that Recession equals Restart.  Nick proselytised that it wasn’t enough for marketers to just hold off, waiting for things to improve, but rather to hit the restart button and redefine their marketing strategies - with digital innovation at the core.

Here are 10 lessons from social media as provided via Twitter from @servantofchaos

1. Don’t believe the hype
2. Use subtle branding i.e. you don’t want to appear lame
3. Social media is not free … You are putting your reputation on the line
4. Learn from other people’s mistakes
5. Be quick ..New ideas are only unique for a short time … It’s the zeitgeist baby!
6. They won’t come. You have to use social media
7. Constantly reinvent … Your social media beast develops a life of its own. Sounds like a teenager!
8. Keep path to trial simple
9. Understand how your audience uses social media
10. Be brave … Social media is not for the faint hearted

As I lifted effortlessly towards the mercury-glazed mirror of trapped air above me, I felt like a character in a science fiction movie.  I pushed a neoprene-gloved hand through the bubble, and slid a full head and shoulders into the dimly lit dome of air.  I was in Bernies Cave, Middle Arch, Poor Knights Island, some 14 metres under the sea level, 24 kilometres from Tutukaka in Northland, New Zealand.

Thanks to the organising of Trade Me colleague, Matt Duguid, I’ve just returned from three days of diving the Poor Knights Islands, aboard the good ship Mazurka. The PKs are rated as one of the top ten dive sites on Earth by none other than Jacques Cousteau.  It was formed as New Zealand’s second marine reserve (no fishing or disturbing marine life for 800m acround the islands) in 1981.

The sight of XOS Snapper, crays and Moki proved difficult to resist for some of our team, more commonly used to diving for a feed of kai in the Marlborough Sounds.  Instead, we kept busy taking video and photos.

Here’s some footage filmed by Matt of myself (with torch) and Daniel Feutz cruising through Northern Arch, surrounded by circling kingfish, huge snapper, trevelly, sandagers and demoiselles.  This huge archway (43m from sea level to sea floor) provides food-bearing currents with fish lining up to dine and incredible water clarity as you can see in the video.  This location was one of the most spectacular dives I have experienced.  We’re sitting at around 30 metres deep, Matt is filming from 35 metres.

Here are a few assorted photos from the trip (click on them to enlarge).

The Institute of Directors is running an Aspiring Directors dinner series in Wellington.  I’m thinking of rocking along.  Will have to dust off the dinner jacket though.  I can definitely make the first two: 8th & 25th June.  These cover Requirements of Directors and Competencies.  Unfortunately I can’t attend the final one on 8th July which is on Marketing Yourself but reckon I’ve got that one covered!   There are some who say he …

Anyway, there are a few people I know who should consider coming too … Damas, Alex, Christine, Ben, Nigel, Matty B.  The Zoo (and other local/central govt entities) needs you.  Numbers are limited to 16 so get in quick.  Please let me know if you’re attending.

I think I’ve found what was added to our nation’s collective town supply late last year.

Hi Michael,
 
Here is a press release about an initiative ad agency DraftFCB has created to help do our bit in the current economic environment. After hearing the talk and listening to the ideas that were generated at last weeks job summit we have decided to take some action. John Key said at the summit “Each of us can do something that could save someone’s job, create a new job for another person or help someone else find a new job as soon as possible” and we have decided to do just that.
 
While what we are proposing may be a drop in the ocean looking at the wider picture it is a significant contribution for a company of our size and could have a real benefit to the recipient. And if more companies’ that are in a position to take some action then we may see a real difference.  If you would like to speak to someone about why DraftFCB had decided to do this and how it will work then our CEO, Bryan Crawford would be happy to talk to you.
 
Cheers
Lwindi

Read the media release.  Good on you, DraftFCB.

The New Zealand Advertising Standards Authority today released the Industry Turnover Statistics for 2008.  These figures show advertising dollars for each major New Zealand medium and percentage of growth or decline in the past calendar year (2008).  The industry is flat on NZ$2.317 billion dollars ($2.335B in 2007).

It’s no surprise that Interactive enjoyed a big lift, rising 2.4% to 8.3% of total advertising turnover in 2008; up from 5.9% in 2007.  This represents a 43% rise in gross adspend within the Interactive sector (figures provided quarterly to, and audited by, PwC).

What was anticipated, and indicative of the current advertising market, was that no other major media saw a rise in market share.  Interactive is now substantially bigger than Outdoor, and expected to topple Magazines within the next twelve months, making Radio the 2010 target!

Television went backwards by $8M, Newspapers by $66M and radio by $6M.  It’s definitely a tough environment for traditional media, right now.

Graph from NZ ASA website.

 Courtesy of Gordon White’s twitter, Advertising Age reports that LinkedIn traffic “skyrockets” as executives lose their jobs and seek to reconnect with lapsed networks.  The other place that these people go are the job sites.

Ad Age reports that LinkedIn is adding one new member every second and a few other interesting stats - and suggests that LinkedIn might not be able to monetise this traffic.  Great update on LinkedIn, thanks Gordon.