GlitchNYC

This July 4th, turn off your tv and turn on to independence.

We’re declaring our independence from Mainstream Media! We’re reporting news you won’t hear on “the big 3.” We’re playing great artists that clear channel’s computer playlists have ignored. We’re creating outstanding video content free from the shackles of the 30 minute timeslot!

Who are we? We’re just like you! We’re creative individuals who were sick of being force-fed the same focus-group distilled junk year after year.

On July Fourth, declare your own independence from Mainstream Media. Turn off your TV and turn on your computer. Plug an MP3 player with great music podcasts into your stereo while you barbeque. Watch an indie movie or a video podcast. Read news that’s not being reported on CNN.

Just use your favorite tagging tool on July 4th to search for “July4us” to find other blogs, podcasts, and shows declaring their independence, and changing the face of media. Here’s some handy links:

• Search the July4us tag on technorati
• Search for July4us on Google
• Search the July4us tag on Yahoo Podcasts

If you’re a podcaster, please include the promo below in your show to help spread the word, and encourage people to go “mainstream free” on the 4th!

• http://www.glitchnyc.com/glitchcast/july4usPROMO.mp3 (58 secs)
  • with podsafe music
  • Music is Rising Sun by Bitstream Dream

• http://www.glitchnyc.com/glitchcast/july4usPROMO-nomusic.mp3
  • bare voice promo

I love that this idea isn’t tied to anyone’s show, and we can all join in by using the tag. I deliberately don’t say my name or showname in the promo for that reason.

Original credit for the idea goes to Bryan Person, Chris S. Penn, and the rest of the New England Podcasters list who brainstormed!

UPDATE: Rocketboom correspondent, vlogger, and all around awesome guy Steve Garfield has popped in to stake his rightful claim to the original july4us concept. Right on Steve, sorry to misplace the credit for the amazing idea!

It’s a complete “Duh!” right? If you want the community to talk about your product, service, podcast, photos, or whatever, you should make it easy for them to link to.

I read Tantek’s piece today and almost dismissed it as a no brainer…

Until I realized how bad I was at it.

I haven’t given people any obvious and easy and obvious ways bookmark or blog about either The Alternative Music Show or Felt Up. He lists a bunch of smart ways to go about it, and I’ll certainly be going through the list this weekend when I have some time to dedicate to it.

Now, let’s see if I can come up with something more compelling than “I’m a listener” badges. Any ideas?

BarcampBoston is coming up, and one of the members of an email group I’m on wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. The following was my response. I think it sums up barcamp fairly well from a personal perspective, so I’m reposting it here.

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Barcamp is, simply put, an unconference. No vendors, no high level keynote speakers, no preset agenda.

People get together in a space (which is often loaned by a local business) and talk about things they want to talk about. You’re very much encouraged to present if you go. Attendees are also enlisted to run all the tech, bring wifi nodes and projectors, and do just about everything (including developing the presentation tracks) themselves. It ends up working surprisingly well.

Oh yeah, and it’s free.

At BarcampNYC, I heard presentations from people who were actually excited about what they were doing. I chatted with Andrew Baron of Rocketboom and got inspired. I gave a well-attended talk with John Resig on “gaming social networks” and using myspace for promotions. I met and began working relationships and friendships with  Amit Gupta, Chris Messina, and Tara Hunt. I connected with bloggers, podcasters, coders, and “web 2.0″ business people.

At BarcampAustin, I chatted with Matt Mullenweg from wordpress and sat next to Doc Searls for hours as we attended the same talks. I heard about the municipal wifi network Austin is building and the business and technological opportunities there. I talked endlessly with folks about the potential of IPTV and why 100mbps to the home might not be enough. I heard the beginnings of Tara’s Pinko Marketing and how she’s using and building upon the cluetrain to promote Riya. I learned more and interacted more in the 1 day at BarcampAustin than I did at the whole of the much bigger and more expensive SXSW.

People don’t just present, chat, and connect at barcamp. Sometimes they just sit right down and code. Mashups and new projects have resulted. It’s an incredible event that’s spreading across the globe like wildfire. You don’t need a massive convention to convey and consume good ideas… We don’t need a “convention industry.” We don’t need to fly all over creation to meet the movers and shakers - we’ve got plenty in our own backyards. We just need to start getting together.

That’s what barcamp is about.

I never set out to be a marketer. Like many artists, I want to create stuff simply for the act of creating. If people like it and enjoy it, all the better.

Increasingly, though, I find myself learning and thinking more and more about the fact that even great things can go unnoticed without the proper marketing. I’ve spent the last few months working to increase the exposure for The Alternative Music Show (formerly The GlitchCast), Felt Up, and other ventures.

I read the Cluetrain about a year and a half ago and it finally opened my eyes a bit. I didn’t want or need flashy catchphrases and slick sites. I didn’t need carefully crafted, triple approved messaging. I needed interaction with the community. I needed to get it out there, and to help the work speak for itself.

Tara Hunt’s Pinko Marketing idea cuts right to the heart of that, and even goes a step further, asserting that it’s not even so much about connecting with an existing community (although that’s part of it), it’s about giving the community an idea and then getting out of the way.

Hugh Macleod of gapingvoid.com is doing a great job of this with Stormhoek wine. He’s seeding the blogging community with ideas and then letting them do their thing. They’re looking for a new bottle design, so he’s commissioned the community for ideas.

Not only did many of them submit interesting designs, he’s also gotten some incredible advice:

…Hell you could commission a winning artist to do a run of three. A wine bottle triptych. Oh I’d buy a full set every time, just to sit on the shelf and look pretty. Actual wine drinkers having a browse for a new drop would be pretty narrow not to buy into art/design wine thing at least once -and then the drop is so good they’re hooked right?

Hugh asks that if you like his art (he posts tons of witty drawings at gapingvoid.com every day) that you simply buy stormhoek wine. He gets paid based on the number of cases that ship, so he makes some money, and you get a great bottle of wine for your contribution. I’m already going to buy at least 1 bottle. Hell, if Stormhoek was suddenly the Threadless of wines, you can bet I’d be buying the 3 set triptych whenever a design caught my fancy.

Brilliant stuff.

Hmm an interesting happening noted by julie today:

Tomorrow is april 5, 2006, otherwise written as 4/5/6. At 1:23, it will be 1:23 4/5/6

I wonder if anything special will happen… On 9/9/99, Sega released the last console they would ever make.

UPDATE: I’m encouraging everyone I know to take pictures of calendars and clocks tomorrow at 1:23! If you take a picture or blog about it, tag it with “123456″