MAD Perspectives Blog

MAD Perspectives' charter is to help companies define and plan their digital media strategy.  But, I often am greeted with quizzical looks.  These looks are that individual's request for further definition about my business.  Their primary question is, what is digital media?!  Interestingly, this is a term that has been around for quite some time, but with new buzz words emerging every day, it is no wonder that this term has been lost in the shuffle.  Let me take a few minutes to share my opinion on what digital media is and how it can help you and your business (btw, you use digital media every day!).

Digital Media is an amalgamation of tools that allow us to communicate, electronically, using text, images, audio and video.  These tools include software, hardware and hosted platforms to create, edit, store, manage, deliver, protect and distribute digital content.  These tools allow individuals and companies to connect, collaborate and communicate for fun or for business.  Let's explore a bit more.

The term digital media is the result of the marriage of technology and creative arts.  It is the digitization of compelling content (i.e., pictures, graphics, audio or video) for distribution across a network.   It is assumed that these are not analog radio or tv networks, but IP (or some evolution there of) networks.  As the internet became commonplace and networks became more sophisticated, businesses and consumers alike, eagerly consumed online content.  We looked forward to the old AOL message "You've Got Mail".  We took email a step further and started attaching files, pictures and video.  Digital media made the world seem a little bit smaller.

Websites evolved from static, brochure-like pages of information to interactive destinations that enabled consumers to post opinions, share recommendations and download information.  Depending on the site, we could watch video.  I remember watching clips from the 2003 World Series between my NY Yankees and the Florida Marlins (yeah, the Yankees lost, sigh!) on a PC while I was traveling in Europe.  Performance was sketchy at best, but it was awesome to be able to see at least a little bit of the game.

Technology has advanced.  Forget the arguments over formats, codecs, bitrates, bandwidth, editing suites, platforms, etc. They can all be sorted out.  Now, we take online video for granted.  In some cases we still have high expectations for video quality, but YouTube has taught us that quality may not always be the primary concern.  Many business websites incorporate video, flash or animation to augment their story.  User-generated content is de-rigueur for consumer sites and broadcast television.  Our perspectives, our thoughts and our images are all part of the story, regardless of whether it is entertainment, news, B2B or consumer oriented.  We do this via online video, social media, web conferencing, video conferencing or interactive marketing.  This is digital media.

Digital Media is our ability to share information, images, pictures, presentations, videos, animations about our companies, our products, ourselves while we are online, regardless of network or device.  What's your strategy for using digital media to tell your story?

What's your perspective?

It's Day One at MAD Perspectives.

Or at least it's day one on the web!  The idea for MAD Perspectives was born in my mind in September 2008.  I was thinking about what I would do if I left corporate america.  I had been working for Hewlett-Packard for 23+years, at that time.  I had played a variety of roles , traveled the world and learned a lot about how to do business in an ethical, candid and honest manner.  I understood the challenges that large and small companies faced when considering new IT related projects.  I also had been steeped in all topics around digital media for the past 7-8 years.  Could there be a business here?

After doing some informal market testing with colleagues, business partners, industry analysts and friends, I decided to take the plunge.  After 24 fabulous years working for a company that remains an industry stalwart and the grand daddy of Silicon Valley, I happily departed to create a new consulting business.

You may ask, where did the name come from?

Well, check out the the page describing the birth of MAD Perspectives.  Briefly, it's the result of capturing the perspectives of valued friends.  There is power in capturing the mind share of many.  It is this ability to connect, collaborate and communicate that is the cornerstone of MAD Perspectives. 

While I was lucky enough to host a face to face dinner to facilitate the discussion, the business community is increasingly faced with wide spread, geographically dispersed employees.  How can they effectively collaborate to create greater value for their company?  Fortunately, digital media solutions continue to evolve to allow and enable employees, business partners, customer or consumers to share ideas, educate each other, dispel myths and more.  MAD Perspectives will leverage its knowlege of these solutions and the challenges companies face aligning such solutions with strategic and organziational goals to help companies adopt new models for their use of digital media!

Welcome to MAD Perspectives!  What's your perspective?