Experts
Craig Newmark
Customer Service Representative & Founder, craigslist.org
Recent Activity
New in gov't customer service: NY Nearest Subway Augmented Reality App
Hey, really cool, just heard that this might also exist for London Underground.
July 11, 2009, 1:28 AM
User review sites: next big media/advertising disruption?
A lot of people rely on user review sites for product or service selection, like Consumer Reports, Yelp, Amazon, or Best Buy.Sure, we're aware of advertising for specific products or services, and that might get attention, but I bet most people just filter out most ads. Maybe they leave a brand impression.What hapens when looking up reviews becomes easy, say on a phone, and becomes the normal way of doing things? We could see a dramatic tipping point in this direction, in the near term.I'm guessing brand advertising will remain important, but that might represent a small portion of thecurrent advertising market.What'll this do to business models for journalism and entertainment?For me, happy to pay for trustworthy sources of news, with fact-checking and a clear separation between reporting and finance.Disclaimer: I'm on the board of Consumer Reports.
July 10, 2009, 4:16 AM
Colalife: using Coca-Cola distribution network for social good
Well, Colalife.org, something casually observed at NESTA, as part of the Traveling Geeks tour in the UK, is a bigger deal than I expected.This guy, Simon Berry, had observed that all over the world, Coca-Cola was really good at delivering product. In each shipment, there was wasted space, which could deliver needed supplies if the right packaging was invented.Well, Simon worked with 'em to make it happen, as you see in this photo. That can carry a lot of medical supplies.Pretty cool common sense, effective idea that really helps.Here's the deal in their words:That Coca-Cola use their distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to save children's lives by carrying 'aidpods' that fit in the unused space between the necks of bottles and carry 'social products' such as oral rehydration salts, malaria tablets, vitamin A, water sterilisation tablets or whatever else is required locally.
July 8, 2009, 6:27 AM
Consumer Reports regarding health care reform
Hey, the folks at Consumer Reports/Consumers Union are the real deal regarding health care reform, they've been on it for years. (Disclaimer, I'm on their board.)Here's some hard truth from 'em: U.S. health-care spending limits our ability to compete in global markets and consumes an ever larger chunk of workers' pay. Address cost by creating incentives for prevention and early detection, reducing expensive and harmful errors, improving information systems and eliminating unnecessary and potentially harmful treatments. Any reform bill must preserve current coverage options for people who are satisfied with them. For everyone else, we need new options with benefits equivalent to those Congress enjoys including a public option that will compete with private health insurance and pressure companies to improve. Finally, reform must restructure the health insurance market by requiring insurers to offer products from among a set of standard benefit packages, requiring them to accept anyone who applies regardless of their health status, and requiring everyone to purchase coverage with adequate subsidies for those who need them. You can also read how they're countering some untruths from bad guys regarding health care reform.
July 6, 2009, 10:00 AM
Networked news nonprofit: big new way to do news?
Hey, a lot of people feel that the news orgs of the future involve networks of journalists, fact-checkers, and editors working together. I'm one of them, having stolen ideas from Ellen Miller, Jeff Jarvis, Jay Rosen, Dan Gillmor and others.Well, the first such alliance has arisen, planning to operate in a public service, nonprofit mode.It's The Investigative News Network Therefore, with a full appreciation of both the complexities and the opportunities to be achieved by more formalized collaboration, the nonprofit news publishers at Pocantico hereby declare that preparations should be immediately made to form a collaboration, the Investigative News Network (working title). Its mission is very simple: to aid and abet, in every conceivable way, individually and collectively, the work and public reach of its member news organizations, including, to the fullest extent possible, their administrative, editorial and financial wellbeing. And, more broadly, to foster the highest quality investigative journalism, and to hold those in power accountable, at the local, national and international levels. Better commentary here by Josh Wilson of newsdesk.org: Journalism's true strength in the Internet era is decentralized. It's all about reporters -- and reporting teams -- working solo, and then linking up in parallel to coordinate on stories, cross-promote, and share resources. Parallel processing! Peer-to-peer networks. A network model harnesses the inherent strength of the Web as a medium. This is the thesis behind my work with Independent Arts & Media and Newsdesk.org. Now, on a significantly larger scale, a collaborative of nonprofit news agencies is teaming up to create a new entity: The Investigative News Network.
July 5, 2009, 10:43 AM
Craig Newmark is a senior Web-oriented software engineer, with around twenty-five years of experience (including 18 years at IBM), and has become a leader in online community by virtue of running www.craigslist.org for over 9 years. He's compiled extensive experience evangelizing, leading and building, including work at Bank of America and Charles Schwab.
In 1995, he started craigslist which serves as a non-commercial community bulletin board with classifieds and discussion forums. Using a common sense, down-to-earth approach, craigslist strives to make the 'net more personal and authentic, while advocating social responsibility through the promotion of small, non-profit organizations.
Craig's community activities include being on the advisory boards of Climate Theatre and Haight-Ashbury Food Program as well as supporting local writers through Grotto Nights. Craig has been featured in the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Business Week, Time Magazine, and Esquire Magazine.
In 1995, he started craigslist which serves as a non-commercial community bulletin board with classifieds and discussion forums. Using a common sense, down-to-earth approach, craigslist strives to make the 'net more personal and authentic, while advocating social responsibility through the promotion of small, non-profit organizations.
Craig's community activities include being on the advisory boards of Climate Theatre and Haight-Ashbury Food Program as well as supporting local writers through Grotto Nights. Craig has been featured in the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Business Week, Time Magazine, and Esquire Magazine.
