Closing the gap in digital skills through training

Image Source: communitelligence.com

The digital world is growing at a pace where the skills of available manpower fall short of functional IT knowledge that could leverage big business solutions. Digital companies are set up with very particular industry focus. Hence, for young professionals actively seeking employment, there’s so much to learn and too few resources for them to be completely competent in IT areas such as persnickety analytics and big data management --- all worth billions of dollars when translated to consumer insight, market research, product designs, etc. The urgent issue is there – the need for more digitally skilled professionals, yet the real solution to the problem remains elusive.

Image Source: actionplan.gc.ca

However, IBM’s Anjul Bhambhri remarks that the viable solution to the digital skills gap might just be underplayed. In his article, Bhambhri writes how the industry could meet the challenge through company-sponsored training which is a key to improving both data skills set and employability. Training professionals with insufficient skills is still the best way for companies to have their existing workforce adjust to new sophistications in IT, and to redefine its data skills demand in terms of who they need and the skills they’re actually looking for. Training is also crucial in organizations that prefer versatile individuals who could work across diverse IT tasks.

Image Source: irishexaminer.com

 
Resolving the digital skills gap begins at a grassroots level – in school. Modifying the curriculum to accommodate vocational tech programs calls for renewed partnerships among schools, communities, and organizations which will direct future professionals to firsthand data science applications and equip them with on-the-job skills to cut through the robust world of big data.


Mitch Berman of Zen Digital Fund harnesses creative talents in the digital world as part of his commitment to ignite the creation of innovative "digital" consumer. Visit this Facebook page for more insightful analyses of the digital culture.

REPOST: The cult of 'Arrested Development'

"Arrested Development" hardly made waves in its day despite much critical acclaim.  It has recently been set for a rerun though, proving that in television, if you have the right amount of luck and popularity, you cannot stay out of the limelight for very long.  Find out more from this CNN article.

(CNN) -- Seven years after its finale, one of the greatest cult hits in television history is making a return. "Arrested Development" lasted three season during its initial run on FOX, with critical acclaim but dismal ratings.

Since its final episode aired in February 2006, a little thing called Netflix ushered in a new way of watching television. In doing so, the comedy found a massive following who kicked themselves for missing the dysfunctional antics of the Family Bluth before it received the dreaded "canceled" sentencing from prime-time television.

In a rare move, the Emmy-winning comedy is making a return, with 15 new episodes with the original cast and crew in tow. After a reported bidding war among outlets, Netflix won the rights to the fourth season everyone hoped for, but no one saw coming. After numerous false starts and scheduling conflicts, series creator Mitch Hurwitz was finally able to work in time for his entire clan to continue the saga of the least redeemable family in Orange County.

CNN recently caught up with the cast to discuss the new episodes, and star Jason Bateman appeared overjoyed at their family reunion.

"There really aren't a lot of shows that get to come back together, at least under these circumstances, where it's not a desperate retread and no one's really done much since the show went off the air. This was a celebratory gathering, a lot of good news, and we knew that we were being included in this effort that Netflix is making to change the way television is brought to people. We're just fortunate to be a part of that."

"Arrested" is the latest in Netflix's recent foray into producing original content, and marks a new way for people to enjoy television. For those who missed the show during its original run, Netflix made it possible to watch the entire series in one sitting. The increase in popularity for streaming and subscription services has created a culture of television binge-watching. Many fans of "Arrested Development" have never seen the show any other way, and on May 26, these same fans will have 15 new half-hours for their viewing pleasure. Portia de Rossi, aka Lindsay Bluth, admits to being a victim of binge-watching herself.

"I find it really frustrating to have to wait a week to watch a show, and I'm just so used to seeing things back to back when I want to see them. I think what Mitch has done with 'Arrested' for Netflix is even more brilliant because he's used that format and created something brand new within it."

With the abundance of reality series taking over both prime-time lineups and Nielsen ratings over the last decade, more and more people have begun turning to cable and premium networks to get their scripted television fix. Netflix is hoping to take a bite out of that population tuning away from the "Big Five" broadcast networks. In fact, these original series are even eligible for Primetime Emmy awards thanks to a recent rule change allowing broadband programming to be nominated alongside any broadcast, cable or premium network show.

Will the magic that has kept the original 53 episodes as must-see television a decade since the show's debut still be there? The cast believe so and if this upcoming season is a success, don't expect this to be the last you see of Never Nudes, Cornballers, and frozen banana stands. Bateman is quick to point out that Season 4 is the first arc in a new story.

"It's a three-act story that was too big to put in a feature, so we put the first act in these episodes and a movie would be acts two and three."

That's right, the long-rumored film version of the series is still in the works. The stars of "Arrested Development" may have to keep their characters within arm's reach in the coming future. They said they reveled at the chance to jump back into the shoes of their Bluth personae, and Jessica Walter had no trouble slipping into boozy matriarch Lucille.

"How bad does this make me seem? It's not that difficult. I hope I'm not like her! But when you play something for three seasons like we did, it's sort of like bike riding: You never forget. As soon as I saw the script and saw the people the first day we were all together in that dysfunctional crazy family, it all came back."

Season 4 features an interesting twist on the show's successful formula. To make the most of the limited time scheduled with the entire cast at once, each episode of the new installment focuses on a different member of the Bluth family. For de Rossi, it was the few scenes the ensemble got to shoot together that made her feel back at home.

"Once I was reunited with my cast on the set of Lucille's penthouse, that was that moment where it all just kind of clicked, for all of us. Because it wasn't just me and Lindsay and what she was like; it was how she related to everybody else and her place in the family. That was really awesome and that was when it all came rushing back."

With the release just a week away, will fans both old and new turn out to get a new slice of afternoon delight? De Rossi believes everyone will walk away satisfied.

"It's going to feel the same as it did. I was surprised how similar it looked and felt, and although we are all older, somehow it all worked."

Mitch Berman was instrumental in the launching of the wildly popular ZillionTV.  Catch insights on business and the television industry by following this Twitter page.

REPOST: A Comedy Show That Comes via a Hashtag

In this report, Amy Chozick digs deeper into the #ComedyFest event, a joint effort by Comedy Central and Twitter hinged on strengthening audience engagement using the power of comedic genres and multi-platform entertainment.

Image Source: nytimes.com

 
















Next week, Comedy Central will host a five-day comedy festival that includes a lineup of legends like Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner alongside popular young comics like Amy Schumer and the director Paul Feig.

But there will be no smoky comedy clubs. No lone microphones and stools positioned on stage. No two-drink minimum.

The festival will take place almost entirely on Twitter, with comedians posting video snippets of routines and round tables and posting jokes using the hashtag #ComedyFest.

The partnership between Comedy Central, a cable cannel owned by Viacom, and Twitter represents the evolving relationship between television and social media. Twitter is often incorporated into programming with viewers using the site as a second screen while watching live television. But slowly, Twitter is becoming an outlet on which to watch video.

In January, Twitter introduced Vine, a video-sharing service that lets users post six-second clips — brevity that matches Twitter’s model of 140-character messages.

On Tuesday, as part of the festival, the comedian Steve Agee will host a “Vine Dining” party, telling stories in six-second videos. The cast of HBO’s “Veep” shares “vines” from the set, as does the cast of ABC’s hit “Scandal.” A&E puts 30-second videos of “Duck Dynasty” on Twitter and the entire third season of Fox’s “Raising Hope” had its debut on the site.

“It’s not just hashtags appearing on your TV screen, but TV content appearing in your Twitter feed,” said Debra Aho Williamson, a social media analyst at eMarketer.

For Comedy Central, the Twitter partnership is a small part of a larger strategy to become a branded entertainment company that does not rely just on nightly television viewing. In a changing media landscape, the channel’s series like “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “South Park,” and their young, mostly male audiences, have led the shift to online video viewing.

As early as next month, Comedy Central will introduce a free, ad-supported app, called CC: Stand-Up. Designed to look and feel like a cable channel devoted to stand-up, the app will offer videos of comedians performing routines.

A recommendation algorithm (similar to the one used by Amazon) will allow users to discover new comedians. If you watched Jeff Ross, for example, a web of other comics would pop up based on routines with similar topics (like mass transit), style (like dark humor) or other relationships (both like marshmallows).

“One of these days we will be ambivalent about where people watch Comedy Central,” said Steve Grimes, the channel’s senior vice president for programming and multiplatform strategy.

At least for now Viacom makes the vast majority of its revenue from cable subscribers who watch television the old-fashioned way and the advertisers who pay to reach them there. The company must adapt to the changing ways viewers watch video, but they must also preserve profits.

Last year, Nickelodeon’s ratings dropped, partly because shows like “Dora the Explorer” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” had been too readily available on streaming platforms like Netflix.

Nickelodeon’s predicament has served as a cautionary tale for Comedy Central as it extends its programming onto other devices. Comedy Central’s total prime-time audience has fallen to a nightly average of 816,000 viewers in the current season to date, from 1.1 million in 2008, according to Nielsen.

Of those viewers, 258,000 are men ages 18 to 34, a demographic that disproportionately uses social media while watching television. In a study conducted by Nielsen in September and titled “How Chatter Matters in TV Viewing,” 54 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds said they had started watching a TV show because of Facebook, and 21 percent credited Twitter.

Fred Graver, head of TV at Twitter, said partnering with Comedy Central and others was not about turning the service into a television distribution platform, but developing deeper relationships with programmers that eventually lead to more people joining Twitter. The relationship, he said, can be mutually beneficial.

“What we spend a lot of time talking to networks and show runners about is, What do you put onto Twitter that will get people to change the channel or alert them to another way of enjoying the show?” Mr. Graver said.

For now, Comedy Central looks at the Twitter partnership as a marketing strategy. In the future, the channel could work with a sponsor to bring in ad revenue. “It’s the same way we’d market our comedy through a billboard a few years ago,” said Michele Ganeless, president of Comedy Central.

Ms. Ganeless has overseen Comedy Central’s push into other expansions of the brand, including consumer products like DVDs, T-shirts and coffee mugs related to its shows and comedians.

Comedians have been particularly ahead of the curve in embracing new ways to distribute stand-up acts that used to rely on cable television. Last year, Louis C.K. sold a “Live at the Beacon Theater” special directly through his Web site and made $1 million in under two weeks. That partly inspired Comedy Central to develop a Web site that lets comedians sell their stand-up specials directly to consumers (with the channel getting a cut). Customers can buy a stand-up special starting at $5 and stream it onto their television screens or mobile devices.

It remains to be seen how all these add-ons will ultimately affect Comedy Central’s audience and, in turn, its revenue.

“I don’t think anybody is moving forward in the TV business or the brand business without finding ways to develop a true dialogue with consumers,” said Doug Herzog, president of Viacom Entertainment Group, which includes Comedy Central, Spike and TV Land. “What we’re still discovering and what will take a while is what exactly does that mean and what exactly does it add up to and how do you quantify it?”

On Monday, Twitter will live stream the only #ComedyFest event that will take place with an actual audience, at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles. The panel discussion will include Mr. Brooks, Mr. Reiner and Judd Apatow, who will be the host. Mr. Reiner and Mr. Apatow will try to persuade the technology-averse Mr. Brooks to join Twitter. He has previously resisted, telling friends that it could not possibly capture his “impish” quality.

Mr. Reiner has more than 20,400 Twitter followers. During the Oscars this year, he posted, “I was so excited to discover I was not in the in memoriam!”

In an interview, Mr. Reiner took a break from writing a book, “I Just Remembered,” (“because it’s about all the things I forgot to put in the first book”) to discuss social media and comedy. Of Mr. Brooks, his longtime friend and partner in “The 2,000 Year Old Man” comedy skit, Mr. Reiner said: “We’ll see if we can get the old man to talk” on Twitter.

Mitch Berman, founder of ZillionTV Corporation, is a specialist in digital consumer innovation and multi-platform entertainment. Visit this Facebook page to know more  about the latest trends in consumer technology and social media.

Televisions: The original social media

When television sets first became commercially available, they quickly turned into the family bonding tool. With only one set per household, families would gather around their TV sets to watch evening programs after dinner, then discuss what they had seen with each other and with friends at school or in the workplace the next day. Whole communities would sometimes gather at one home for weekend games and cheer the town’s team over barbeque and chatter.

Image Source: centralmediasystems.com

The humble television inspired conversation, reactions, and true socializing.

In this day and age, spoken conversations have been widely replaced by what the digital companies are calling social media. Going by the traditional definition of the word, “social” media must, first and foremost, get people to socialize. In that respect, modern social media is, in fact, anti-social media, because it constrains people to their computers or mobile phones and forces them to interact virtually via platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Image Source: vivax.com

While this form of interaction can still be considered socializing, it does not manifest the term in its traditional form. If anything, it causes users to stay away from reality and tangible socializing, and forces them to ignore the people they are physically with in order to communicate with those who are in a virtual world.

Image Source: regmedia.co.uk

The Internet has become a popular alternative for watching shows and movies, but TV is still the main channel for filmed media. Like this Facebook page for Mitch Berman, founder of ZillionTV, to learn more about the merging of TV and Internet media in the information age.

REPOST: Gates, Zuckerberg, Other Tech Icons Promote Youth Coding in New Film

Are the founders of Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter appearing on film?  The New York Times reports that a nonprofit org is featuring the tech giants in a short film on youth programming.


A new nonprofit seeking to rally interest among children, parents and schools in computer programming is getting help from some big guns in the tech industry, including the founders of Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Square are among the tech icons appearing in a short movie being released Tuesday by Code.org, the new nonprofit that wants to make programming classes more widely available in schools.

Video source: Youtube.com

The organization, founded by Hadi Partovi, a tech entrepreneur and startup adviser and investor, is part of an intensifying effort among technology companies to address a serious shortfall in programming talent. Few schools offer programming classes. Code.org is encouraging people to sign a petition on its Web site stating that every student should have an opportunity to learn to code, and to use that response to advocate for greater availability of computer science classes in schools.

Many of the luminaries in the movie describe their first crude programming efforts and attempt to demystify the discipline by comparing it to other interests that students more commonly pursue. “It’s really not unlike playing an instrument or playing a sport,” Drew Houston, the chief executive and cofounder of Dropbox, says in the movie. “It starts out being very intimidating but you kind of get the hang of it over time.”

Mr. Partovi went outside nerd circles to add cachet to programming. The movie features the professional basketball player Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat, who took programming classes as a student, and Will.i.am, the music producer and Black Eyed Peas frontman. “Here we are, 2013, we all depend on technology to communicate, to bank, and none of us know how to read and write code,” Will.i.am says in the film. “It’s important for these kids, right now, starting at 8 years old, to read and write code.”

Code.org also secured endorsements for youth programming from a much broader group of celebrities from politics, business and education, including Bill Clinton, Eric Schmidt of Google, Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers and the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.

Mr. Partovi said Microsoft has provided financial support to show the film in Regal movie theaters as an advertisement for a week starting this Friday. Mr. Zuckerberg will promote it to his Facebook followers and Google will feature it on YouTube, Mr. Partovi said.

This Facebook page for Mitch Berman, principal at Blend Digital and founder of ZillionTV Corporation, links to more news and information on digital marketing, social media, apps, and more.

Content is king: Digital trends to watch out for this year

Before 2012 ended, Adobe, in partnership with Econsultancy, surveyed over 700 digital professionals to determine which challenges and opportunities 2013 will bring to the table.

Image source: copyblogger.com

The results of the study showed that 2013 will be the year of content.

The continued emergence of content marketing as a standalone discipline was shown to be the single most significant digital marketing trend. The findings showed that 38 percent of agencies and 39 percent of companies rated content marketing as their top priority in digital marketing, and 52 percent of marketers said that targeting and personalizing content is a key factor in their digital strategy for 2013. “Great content” will also be spread through social channels and will be consumed everywhere.

Image source: power-marketing.com

Other points raised by the study include the following:

• The respondents have listed social media engagement lower down their list of priorities, compared to a year ago.
• Industry professionals see mobile optimization as the most exciting digital marketing trend opportunity for 2013.
• 2013 also calls for the rise of the “Pi-shaped marketers.” To meet the demands of omnichannel customers, these marketers must be creative (can understand brands and storytelling) and analytical (data-driven, and can use analytics to optimize).
• The study states that the marketing tasks for 2013 are as follows: (1) creating engaging, consistent content on multiple platforms, (2) joining online and offline data, and (3) measuring with greater accuracy and optimizing accordingly.

Image source: econsultancy.com

To sum up the survey, Adobe and Econsultancy believe that inspired content and informed algorithms are the keys to digital marketing success in 2013.

Mitch Berman specializes in creating innovative B2B and digital consumer products and services. He is a principal at Blend Digital and the founder of ZillionTV Corporation. This Twitter page provides more information about his work.