Saturday 30 May 2009

My comments re: Social Currency - mdh47

Social Currency - mdh47

Mark, you raised a very interesting point.  

Challenge is that the same rules don't really apply still. As you make a favour/help others in person, you know & can see who you are dealing with.  

Online, even via various social networks, it maybe hard pressed to find the same person.. and also, does he really exist in reality?  

So, I think something more fundamental is needed, which is the identity (with certain degree of certainty) before, the social/spiritual currency can be 'transferred' or 'gained'.. that's why when I can, I use mainly my real name and photo, just to add/produce further trust.  


We can however talk all we want remotely, through email/social network or telephone. it is still NOT comparable to face to face for 15/30min.  

Look forward to meeting you in person soon.  

BR 

@GarethWong

Thursday 28 May 2009

Amazing Beat Box Girl is Today's BIG Thing in Music - MAY 14, 2009

Amazing Beat Box Girl is Today's BIG Thing in Music - MAY 14, 2009





Thanks Lucian

you see, without Twitter, I would have never seen this.. and I don't read other people's blogs! 

trying to embed it above.. this should work. 


Saturday 23 May 2009

my comments re Grieving ‘Goat’ gets free Canada trip

Daily Dispatch Online Grieving ‘Goat’ gets free Canada trip

it will be sure that there is more & more convergence of on-line off-line world, 

The reach of online/social/business network is perfect for reach, but nothing can be compared to the 'real-life' hand-shake connections etc.


Sunday 17 May 2009

My comments re How Financial Brands Should Market In a Recession - John Quelch - HarvardBusiness.org

How Financial Brands Should Market In a Recession - John Quelch - HarvardBusiness.org


[The turmoil and distrust in the financial services sector is an open invitation to other non-financial companies to exploit the brand vacuum created by the demise of the likes of Merrill Lynch and RBS. Look to Tesco, the leading retailer in the United Kingdom, to extend further its reach into financial services. Look to trusted brands like Wal-Mart and even Google in the United States to do the same. After all, the financial services industry is crying out for a brand that promises to "do no evil." ]

One need to remember that trust is based on 'perception'+'emotion', which is more qualitative than quantitative. However, 'social norm' or 'group think' may steer people en mass towards even danger, typical lemmings behaviour.

In short, the present credit crisis maybe due to Greed, but essentially is a market structural issue, where fundamentally the wheels of the machine is broken, just by changing the gears might not fix the problem. Nor would it fix it by putting more tiny gears in between, or monitors how the existing gears works.

No one, be it the financial sector nor regulators worldwide has suggested any potential solutions.

Sadly I had maybe already a solution even back in 2004, by forming GamBond® (spearheading & creating a default risk bond insurance market), which initially focus only in one sector (but aim to expand to all remotely trading sectors & then offline). This is mostly because insolvency/default risks is generally much more insulated within a specific sector (market, regulatory, trading risks are all quantifiable and benchmark-able).

All the advisors/VCs/PEs firms whom I tried to raise funds from (sadly I have not yet managed to do so!) KEPT telling me to use Credit insurance and Credit Default Swaps (CDS), I kept firm and said no, as I personally don't understand them and all I care about is the point of default, as we can easily monitor Cash flow, trading risk, regulatory risks, competitive risks, and put a specific price on it.

Long story short, most of the people I approach (some super senior, and gurus in the financial sector) still don't understand/nor do they care.

They prefer to look at the present problems of the gears, than recognise the fact, and change the gearbox.

I am still hopeful, but sadly, lemming effect dictates that 'boys will be boys'..

back to the suggestion of Google bank? not likely, as google is now trusted as provider of search.. but it is NOT a bank, likes of Cahoot/Egg from UK were successful was due to coming out of an established 'trusted' bank.

Google might be rich, as search provider, and internet heavy weight (in minds of people that uses internet), for majority of the public now worldwide, for Google to jump to be compared to FSA regulated (even that is not as trusted! hence my point of gearbox change) is too big a leap.

time to change, ok, at least lets consider the options of changing the gearbox first!??

@GarethWong

- Posted by Gareth Wong 


Saturday 16 May 2009

Chk this out Tonight | Episodes | Credit Secrets Revealed - ITV News

Tonight | Episodes | Credit Secrets Revealed - ITV News

For UK Readers, 

suggest you check this out, Martin Lewis (founder of MoneySavingExpert), it is worth your few minutes to read.. or watch.. 

good info.

@GarethWong

My comments re MBAs vs. Entrepreneurs: Who Has the Right Stuff for Tough Times? - Bill Taylor - HarvardBusiness.org

MBAs vs. Entrepreneurs: Who Has the Right Stuff for Tough Times? - Bill Taylor - HarvardBusiness.org

interesting article, thanks for this. 

Sadly this is how most of us in the world do these days, put people into various 'boxes'. 

Its true that we need some short hand to sift through people quickly.  

I network extensively worldwide, and have met Great MBAs (harvard, IMD, LBS, etc., mine from another elite school, Cass in London) but likewise, some people from some of same schools have no clues..

yes, they have the lingo. but quickly one knows they might not be at the same intellectual level.  

However, I can tell you personally, people speak to you differently when they see all your titles, mine are BEng(Hons), MSc, MBA.. and what happens? I was accused of being too 'intellectual', and that is the only comment my middle level contacts in Heidrick & Struggles was telling the head of consumer in Asia Pacific. 

Sadly, that 'label' stuck (in the middle manager's mind), if they had known me before and speak to some of the people I negotiated contracts with, they could tell them that I might also be a hard nosed 'deal maker'..  

My personal view/prefernce is try to understand/speak with people directly without agenda, this wil get to the bottom of who he/she is. 

As the labels become meaningless and its the experience/drive/personal skills/business skills that comes through that counts.  

I am not saying that there is no use, it might help you to put yourself above others, but realistically, its the trusted relationships that count.  

Entrepreneurs doing a part-time MBA could be a killer combination.  
Therefore, now, on my business cards, there are NO label/title etc.

@GarethWong

Tuesday 12 May 2009

CEOs Who Use Twitter: Tweets from the Chiefs - BusinessWeek

CEOs Who Use Twitter: Tweets from the Chiefs - BusinessWeek

Do all these CEOs twittering themselves?? 

I wonder

it is definitely a great ways to 'broadcast' but it should also be a key 'feedback' channel.. 

it was shocking a bit to hear one fo the chair of today's Blogger's conference at City University that twitter is for those people that are 'vain'.. 

I am on twitter, but my tweets are protected and is only opened to people I know (i.e. I authorise each personally).. therefore, I would like to think I might be less 'vain' than all these CEOs.. ;-) 


Saturday 9 May 2009

My comments, Let's Get Over Who 'Owns' Social Media - Advertising Age - DigitalNext

Let's Get Over Who 'Owns' Social Media - Advertising Age - DigitalNext

raised a few interesting thoughts/aspects of the continuously changing 'social media' world. thanks for the post. However, the success of future media might be the new 'trusted' market place, which social media (or its future evolved re-incarnation) will /could be the enabler, but it might only be a 'phase'.. and it would be interesting to see what 'form' it takes.. even with 100% web/high speed internet/mobile access, there would still be a much smaller proportion that are 'actively' using it and even smaller percentage that are happy to 'transact' via e or m commerce.. but we are in interesting time.. and should be happy to be part of this evolution. ;-) we can talk and talk, but lets make it happen. Trusted social media that enable co-creation is the future. @GarethWong

Thursday 7 May 2009

my comments re: Bill unveiled to reverse U.S. online gambling ban (& "GamTertainment")

Bill unveiled to reverse U.S. online gambling ban
| Reuters

Well, US finally is taking the first step to reverse the sadly mis-step of pushing all remote gaming activity into three years+ of black market activities (people still gambled but sadly not able to with respectable & listed firms)

However, it will still take months for this to be passed into law. 

Plus who would be the leader of change/consolidation is now also a big question due to the credit crunch which adversely affect even for this supposedly 'recession proof' sector. 

For the remote gaming world, it is for sure that the holy grail in my mind would be the converged gaming/entertainment firms, not the present mostly gaming focused variety. 

Future is Bright, and Future is "GamTertainment"

my comments re Warren Buffett takes centre stage at the Berkshire Hathaway AGM

Warren Buffett takes centre stage at the Berkshire Hathaway AGM

We do not have Warren Buffett and Bill Gates before.. 

how do we 'survive' and who do we look up to and be inspired by in the future when they step into their new roles whatever it might be? 

In our newly democratised world.. with unconference, blogging, microblogging/twittering, youtube/Hulu and all kinds of webservices etc. would that really means we will have another microsoft...

given the credit /financial market challenges worldwide, would Berkshire Hathaway spell the future or indeed the last swansong of yester years when Warren retire? 

one thing is for sure, the golden years is past and the startup, or new business models that comes out during this worldwide recession will be so much stronger in the coming years.. 

now, who can that be? 

I personally think it will not be twitter, but a platform that comes from the converged trusted media/blogging+ some form of commerce capability... hope/wish we will be leading that change. 

Saturday 2 May 2009

My comments re The Age of Pandemics - WSJ.com

The Age of Pandemics - WSJ.com

Brilliant Article indeed (no pund intended)

However, I would have like some comments as to what small /little person like us can do, instead of being a sitting duck.

Ok, we understand that because of various global warming, macro economic, worldwide reasons for this to be happening and potential solutions from governments/WHO/Charity/Research.. 

but can we at the grass root level do anything?? 

for us international travellers, does it mean that we are taking a lottery everytime we fly?? how/what can we do to avoid it or minimise on the likely risks? 

that would also be very interesting for us readers.. 

@GarethWong