Comment on Comcast bringing Skype video chat into the living room by Chris

Great for grandma, but who else is paying for a separate box, remote, and cam just to Skype off your TV? This is a great start to the M$oft era. I hope the next big announcement is that on my next Delta flight I can rent some contraption to Skype from the sky!

Comment on Comcast bringing Skype video chat into the living room by Chris

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/video/comcast-skype-video-chat/#comment-631035

Comment on Tablets Starting to Replace Other Traditional Devices by Chris

There not "tablets," there are only iPads.

Comment on Tablets Starting to Replace Other Traditional Devices by Chris

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2011/05/05/tablets-starting-to-replace-other-traditional-devices/#comment-621965

Comment on How to Use the Cloud to Move Contacts Between Phones by chris

Agreed with Stuart that I also not seeing any big benefit on the cloud storage. Being the main reason of security issue on cloud, unless people changing phone very often, otherwise i don't feel i will opt for it. Wonder if there any technology to sync the contacts directly between phones using wireless or bluetooth? It make more sense to me.

Comment on How to Use the Cloud to Move Contacts Between Phones by chris

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/mobile/how-to-use-the-cloud-to-move-contacts-between-phones/#comment-615549

Comment on I Returned My ‘Smart TV’ Because the Apps Were Dumb by Chris

You're right. Widgets are pretty widget-y right now, but that will change. Though I think for social apps, the two-screen experience is the way to go.

Comment on I Returned My ‘Smart TV’ Because the Apps Were Dumb by Chris

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/video/smart-tv-crashy/#comment-582120

Comment on You Can Stop the Social Media Hype by chris

Social media is not a medium, it's a media otherwise it would be called social medium. TV, Radio and Print are mediums for the same reason that the internet is a medium - the commonality is that media can be created and transmitted across physical platforms. Social media is just that - a media that is social which is transmitted across the internet - which is the real medium that you are likely referring to.

Comment on You Can Stop the Social Media Hype by chris

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/collaboration/you-can-stop-the-social-media-hype/#comment-581135

Comment on iPhone How-To: Synchronizing Your Google Calendar by Chris

It's funny. A couple years ago when I was looking for the solution this article provides, I found this exact article. I did it and loved it. Now, as of about a week ago, NuevaSync decided to start charging for their service. Over the couple years of using it my need for it has diminished greatly - I could still use it but not to the extent that I would pay for it. So, I bailed on NuevaSync and just as I get in the mood to search for a new solution, I find this article again. (It's the first one I clicked - heh...) That said, it works like a charm and I'd recommend it to anyone willing to pay for it!

Comment on iPhone How-To: Synchronizing Your Google Calendar by Chris

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/apple/iphone-how-to-synchronizing-your-google-calendar/#comment-528889

Gawker's Sales Boss Chris Batty Leaving After Serious Disagreement With Nick Denton About Strategy

More news out of Gawker today. Sales boss Chris Batty is leaving to start his own venture, and he's bringing fellow salesman Michael Casco with him.

In an email to staff explaining the move, Gawker boss Nick Denton says, "Chris and I diverge seriously over strategy. That spilled over into unhealthy conflict between editorial and sales."

But, things must not have gotten too bad between Denton and Batty, because he also says, "Gawker Media will be both a partner and an investor" in Batty's new advertising venture.

Here's the email from Denton to the staff:

Yes, this may be a shock to some of you. Chris Batty and Michael Cascio, Gawker Media's long-time head of sales and marketing and sales leader, are leaving the company at the end of December. In the new year, we will begin a search for a replacement; we will be looking at candidates both from the digital world and those with TV experience. Chris will coordinate the recruitment. Applicants should contact him directly. In the interim, the sales operation will be overseen by Gabriela, who first brought Chris in.


It's easier than usual to give the corporate bromides about departing colleagues -- because Batty and Cascio have such an impressive track record. No exaggeration is needed. Under Chris -- and with help from Gaby Darbyshire's international deals -- the company's annual revenue has increased tenfold. The increase since 2005 translates into a 56% annual growth rate. This quarter will be by some margin our largest ever. Chris and Michael are ending on the highest of notes.



Here's just a selection of the great calls that Chris made: the eviction of the ad networks that were undercutting our premium positioning; the establishment of a creative services unit to work on custom implementations for clients; sponsored posts, advertorial content in the main flow of the sites; the introduction of custom marquee and panorama units commanding higher rates than standard IAB units.



Above all, he pushed Gawker Media to professionalize: to go beyond the fly-by-night approach of the early years, recognize that we had become a serious business, and push for proper office space, 401k plans and the other trappings of a real company.



I've known Chris a decade, since in San Francisco he nearly siphoned off $500,000 from my last company, an act of salesmanship which cemented my respect for his talents. Sure, we've rowed over everything from politics to page layout. But that's been part of the fun; and the arguments have generally led to better decisions.



There is one disagreement that became harder to attribute to creative tension. Our sites are allergic to corporate boilerplate, so I'm going to be explicit. Chris and I diverge seriously over strategy. That spilled over into unhealthy conflict between editorial and sales. The clash is not quite as simple as audience versus revenue. After all, it's that ever-growing and upscale readership that draws advertisers; and, as Chris often pointed out, it's ad sales that fund editorial. The two should be in symbiosis.



However, of all media companies, Gawker Media is one that has built itself around audience growth, in the belief that advertising will follow. That isn't the only media strategy available; it just happens to be the one that we chose; and it is to that which everybody signs up when joining the company.



Chris will be launching a new advertising venture; Gawker Media will be both a partner and an investor. I'm glad he will have the opportunity finally to be his own boss -- as other Gawker alumni such as Lockhart Steele and Choire Sicha have done.



As for Gawker's own future plans: tomorrow afternoon, Tom will present the upcoming release of the sites; Gabs will run through the proposed ad offering associated with it; and I will try to explain how it all hangs together in the 2011 plan, a written copy of which is being sent to you.



I'm not going to say any more now. I'm assuming you'll need today to begin digesting the news. Gabs will be contacting you to schedule a session tomorrow morning for sales and marketing, to deal with your questions. Chris and Michael will kick off the meeting. And of course Gabs and I are both around today for anyone who wants to talk.



Nick

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See Also:

• Denton: Why Gawker Is Moving Beyond The Blog
• Gawker Crushes Its October Numbers
• Nick Denton Is Buying Back Gawker Stock At A $30 Million Valuation – Here's Why

Gawker's Sales Boss Chris Batty Leaving After Serious Disagreement With Nick Denton About Strategy

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Twitter investor and VC Chris Sacca just got engaged! Here's the photo he just posted on Instagram.

Twitter investor and VC Chris Sacca just got engaged! Here's the photo he just posted on Instagram. He tweeted out the story, too, and it's very cute. Congrats!

Join the conversation about this story »

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Comment on Are QR Codes Ready for Their Close-Up? by Chris Parente

Thanks for the balanced reporting -- there's been so much negativity about barcodes lately, from the "why hasn't it exploded yet" crowd. Here's an interesting post -- a blog published by Neustar disagreeing with a negative QR comment made by CTIA: http://bit.ly/d9GWRE

Post originale: http://gigaom.com/2010/10/19/are-qr-codes-ready-for-their-close-up/#comment-302079