Speakers in the News »

9/23/05
MENA TROTT

Mena Trott of Six Apart introduced "Project Comet" yesterday at DEMO Fall 2005. While details on the new product won't become completely clear until if official launches in 2006, the main focus is increased simplicity and usability for weblogs. Trott used a novel approach to explain this concept by introducing her Mother while making her pitch at Demo: "I have a question for you all. Why do we think moms are so stupid? I ask this because of that 'It’s easy enough for my mom to use' line that’s always thrown around. I’m Mena Trott and this is my husband Ben Trott and we’re the cofounders of Six Apart. We make weblogging software and we don’t think moms are stupid. We think we just haven’t made the product that they want to use. When I say 'mom' -- a grey-haired older woman sitting by her computer, unsure about where she’s supposed to click or even if the computer has been turned on. Well, the fact is I was born the same year that the Apple II was released and my mom knows how to use a computer. So when I say I want to make a product -- or in our case, a blogging service -- that's easy enough for my mom to use, I'm really saying that I want to make a blogging service that my mom *wants* to use. More specifically, I want to make a product that this woman wants to use." Trott spoke at the SXSW Interactive Festival in both 2002 and in 2003.

4:58pm CST | +

9/22/05
ADAM WEINROTH

Adam Weinroth

Blogs are becoming more and more pervasive in our society -- and a technology that initially provided an alternative view to the mainstream media has now essentially been adopted by the third estate. Here in Austin, our local daily has made a major push in this direction. Adam Weinroth, a speaker at the 2004 SXSW Interactive Festival, explains the details via a recent post on easyjournal.com: "If you are at all interested in 'citizen journalism', blogs and social media in general, you have most likely heard about the Austin American-Statesman's recent landmark endeavor as one of the first major U.S. cities to roll out a fully featured blogging and citizen journalism program of such scope and scale. You may also know that an Austin software startup called Pluck is the company that enabled the Statesman’s blog community capabilities with its InSite Blogging solution. What you probably don’t know is that Pluck acquired EasyJournal (and me along with it) earlier this year to develop its InSite Blogging solution, and that I led the Statesman/Austin360 blogging community project. . . The successful release of the service was, in no small part, due to their high energy, active involvement, and importantly their diligence in representing the very important needs and realities faced by your average 134-year-old news organization." In addition to his SXSW speaking duites, Weinroth was also a nominee for the 2004 Dewey Winburne Community Service Award.

4:58pm CST | +

9/21/05
JAMES HONG

Tony Pierce

SaveMyAss is a new website developed by hotornot.com founder James Hong. The principle behind the site is simple: "SaveMyAss is a personal assistant that keeps your girlfriend or wife happy by sending her flowers on your behalf, on a regular but semi-random basis. . . If you're a successful professional whose career demands the bulk of your time, you know the problem. You want her to be happy, but you're busy and it's hard to be on top of flowers when you have deals closing or decks to finish. Sign up for this service once, and we'll take care of the rest. She'll be happy, you'll be happy." Hong spoke on the "Trends in How the Internet Connects People" panel at the 2003 SXSW Interactive Festival.