Crowdfunding’s Appeal is It’s Biggest Drawback

We’re well into our crowdfunding project to raise funds for the world’s first crowdfunded On-Demand Internet Television network.

I’d like to say it is going better than expected.

I’d LOVE to say that.

But I can’t.

Because it’s not – if anything it’s either exceedingly slow, or not even getting off the ground – and we are well into our second week.

We’re doing everything we are supposed to according to all the research we’ve done. We’ve got a great project video, a compelling story about what we are doing and why, great perks at various price points so as to not exclude low funders nor limit high rollers.

We’re promoting this project all over the place, we’ve had some press, and you can find us on all the major social networks.

We even have what I’ve begun calling our “social media army” tweeting, re-tweeting, posting, and sharing our project across their social networks.

We know we are reaching people, we average between 1,500 to 2,000 unique visitors to our Indiegogo project page every day.

Still, we are well below our predicted funding goals for this time in the project.

Why?

I’ve been debating that question with friends and colleagues since we started, as the project never really took off.

Is our project video not interesting enough?

We’ve re-done the video three times, each one different to see if that’s the cause.

Is the content just not interesting or informative enough?

Again, this has been re-jigged a couple of times, to see if that’s the problem.

Do we not have enough perks, or are the perks just not good value for the money?

We explored numerous other projects, comparing ours to ones that have exceeded their funding goals. Our perks seem to be in line with these, in some cases they are better.

For every possible reason, there are a zillion other reasons.

The caveat I’m learning as we take our lumps through this crowdfunding project is the lure of the masses, but those masses sometimes just don’t bite.

That’s the great appeal of crowdfunding – reaching out to millions of people, getting them behind your cause, and watching your dreams grow.

That appeal is also the biggest drawback – when your idea falls flat, fails miserably to attract anyone, and you feel exposed, naked in the wind, as your dreams are blown away.

Crowdfunding may be a great way to raise funds, but if the concept you’re putting forward doesn’t take, it’s a painful process to go through.

And that’s crowdfunding’s biggest drawback.

Circumcising Your Own Cord – Doesn’t Have to Hurt

Millions have cut the cord with their cable or satellite providers across the globe – and you can too.

And you know what?

It doesn’t hurt.

Really.

For years big corporations have forced us to order channels we never wanted, because they bundled them together in packages.

For even the cheapest channel you don’t watch, that’s many dollars wasted.

Far worse, after a hard day’s work, when you just want to fall into the comfy confines of your favorite easy chair and watch a little television to relax, you can easily get frustrated flipping around, just trying to find something worthwhile to watch.

You don’t have to be a victim to bad television anymore.

Thanks to On-Demand Internet Television.

On-Demand Internet Television is a crowdfunding project, to create the world’s first Internet-based television network, which shows what you want to watch, available at anytime and from any connected device.

How does a television network know what you want to watch?

Through forums and discussion groups, viewers are encouraged to provide show concepts and ideas, which will be discussed among the greater viewer-base.

Shows which receive a lot of viewer support will be created, and placed on-demand online.

So you really can have a say in what is available on television.

And finally, after a long hard day at work, when you collapse into your favorite chair, and switch on your television, there will be something on just for you!

You have the power of choice.

Exercise your power.

Make On-Demand Internet Television Matter.

Donate to the cause today.

It won’t happen without YOU.

So What Is On-Demand Internet Television?

Millions have already cut the cord with their cable or satellite providers, and are enjoying television anytime, and on any device they have via on-demand services over the Internet.

Problem with many of these on-demand services, is they serve up the same distasteful menu of Reality TV, sitcoms, game shows, and even re-runs of once great shows, but nothing new, and original.

And when they do their own programming, just because it receives rave reviews from the television critics, doesn’t mean you are going to like it.

Television is like food – we all have different tastes.

Some like it spicy, others run to the bathroom at the mere thought.

The same goes for television shows. Actually, it’s even more so for television – we all have such varied and unique interests, hobbies, career aspirations – so naturally we’ll all have very different tastes in what we like to watch on television.

That’s the magic of our crowdfundng project – we open up the discuss forums, giving you a voice.

Be heard – tell us what YOU want to see on television.

If enough people get talking about it, we’ll create the show – and FINALLY there will be something YOU want to watch on television.

Even better, because it’s on-demand over the Internet, YOU can watch it when you want too, and on any connected device.

So while waiting in line at the grocery story, you can be watching your favorite show on your mobile phone, and thanks to cloud-based computing, you can continue watching your favorite show after you put your groceries away on your connected big screen television in your living room!

All of this can only happen with YOU.

So please help us make on-demand Internet television possible. DONATE to our crowdfunding project NOW – we’ve got some great gifts as our way of saying ‘thank you.’

Once you’ve made your contribution, don’t forget to spread the word – the more people that know we exist, the better. Tell EVERYONE you know via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest – whatever social network you are on – please share this link. 

Thank you for making On-Demand Internet Television matter.

End Boredom, Get a Perk, Feel Good -- Why Not?

Yesterday I launched my very first crowdfunding project on Indiegogo -- On-Demand Internet Television.

Crowdfunding is using social media to  raise funds for anything – be it a business, a creative project, or as in my case – a bit of both. From a business start-up point of view, it’s also a great way to see if the business idea has a market, because you can see by how many fans do – or don’t – jump on board to support it either through promoting it via their social networks, contributing ideas to help it grow, or even donating to the cause to ensure it takes shape.

You may have heard of websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo – these are the biggest and most talked about crowdfunding websites out there, which help people raise funds by growing a social following of people interested in seeing their ideas happen.

Of course, there’s also something in it for the fans that donate to the cause – gifts are set at different levels of funding which encourage people interested in making the idea happen, to open up their wallets.

The On-Demand Internet Television crowdfunding project is a really cool one -- which I hope you will check out, select a perk, and even share it with your social circles to make it happen.

Help us rid the world of boredom, by creating the first television network with programming that you'll actually watch.

How do we know you'll watch it?

Check out the crowdfunding site here to learn more, and please help us make this possible by donating to the cause and sharing the site with your friends.

Over the next 50 days, I'll be using this blog to share my thoughts, feelings, successes and failures about crowdfunding the worlds first viewer created television network.

See what challenges we go through as we crowdfund -- great if you have an idea you've always wanted to try, but just don't know how to raise money to start it.

Thanks for reading this blog -- and for supporting our crowdfunding project!

Where Do You Watch It?

Remember the old days, when you had to rush home to catch your favorite show on TV?

People would literally dash out of social functions with friends to turn on their television, sit in the dark, alone, and watch their favorite show.

That was if they were polite. Some would just tune into their favorite shows wherever they were, often without asking the host first!

The VCR certainly changed that – but they weren’t fool-proof, occasionally eating a tape, or if there wasn’t enough tape left you’d miss the end of whatever you were recording.

Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) also called Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) have made the recording of television shows almost fool-proof. Almost. If there’s a power failure, or your cable or satellite service goes down, there still is nothing you can do.

That’s where the power of on-demand Internet Television comes into the picture – pardon the pun. It’s on-demand, so you don’t have to worry about missing anything, because you choose when and where you watch.

And because it’s on the Internet, you can be just about anywhere in the world – so long as you have access to the net.

Over 15 percent of Canadian households claimed they got most of their television via on-demand digital media last year. That number is expected to climb to well over 40% over the next decade, and could even go as high as 60% by some estimates.

No longer do you have to run home to ensure your PVR catches your favorite show.

You can be anywhere and watch.

From your bathroom, a party at a friend’s place, work, or even in the park.

Toss in cloud-based computing technologies, and you have some cool television tech – it gives you the ability to continue watching on-demand Internet Television exactly where you left off, somewhere else and on a completely different device!

So that show you were watching on your iPhone during lunch but only got halfway through can be viewed right where you left off, on your connected large screen TV in your living room at home after work!

Though being able to watch on-demand Internet television anywhere can raise eyebrows too.

Listening to someone chatter on their mobile device while in the bathroom stall next to you is awkward enough. Overhearing them watching a television show while they do their “business” is downright dirty.

Not all content available on-demand is suitable for children. As some bus riders found last year, when a man began watching an adult movie on his tablet while on the bus.

Televisions across the globe have been used for years by couples to avoid contact during arguments. With on-demand Internet Television, those arguments can be extended to public spaces, as people continue to avoid each other by streaming their “distractions” on their mobile devices so they don’t have to actually talk to each other.

Speaking of public spaces, society already has become more anti-social, as we spend more time with our mobile devices, than with each other, even in social settings. Just go into any coffee shop that has free Wi-Fi, and you’ll see most people are busy watching their mobile devices, instead of interacting with each other.

Used to be, coffee shops were a great place for singles to mix and mingle, because you could easily go up to a stranger, and have a nice conversation over a couple of hot beverages.

Mobile devices have become gatekeepers in a sense, making it harder to approach someone that you can’t make eye contact with, because they never look up from their mobile device.

Still, it’s better than listening to someone watch TV in the bathroom.

Damn that flushing toilet – now I’ll never know what happened to JR!

Why Choosing a New Pope is a Big Deal

When Americans, Canadians and British citizens elect a new national leader through the democratic process, the world’s media announces the new leader, and that’s about it.

When the Catholic Church appoints it’s new leader, the world’s media gathers like geese at a feeding frenzy around the Vatican, waiting for the plumes of smoke to spill out overhead, signalling those in the know will soon tell all.

As with most things about the Catholic Church, much of the process is cloaked in mystery, hidden from the public’s right to know through secrecy and ritual.

That’s quite an accomplishment in the always on digital social media universe which usually spills all, revealing all, even the stuff no one is supposed to know.

But the real question we should be asking ourselves, especially those of us not of the Catholic faith – why should the world care who the new Pope is?

The answer, surprisingly is very social – it’s all about influence.

Billions of people around the world feed, clothe and house the citizens of Vatican City – a separate country, located in Rome, Italy – through their donations to their Catholic Church.

Religion has been declining in much of the Western world, thanks in part to modernization, and a whole new generation of people so wired into technology, they don’t require the faith instilled in oneself by believing in – well –faith.

However, as the rich get richer and the poor ever so more poor, third-world countries have been taking up the slack, and are becoming the followers of the world’s largest organized religion – the Catholic Church.

And although Vatican City is only a few acres in the middle of a small country in Europe, it receives more fiscal support than all the governments in the Western world combined.

So when the Pope asks his followers to do something, he’s got more clout than the biggest and most powerful countries on the planet.

No, the Pope doesn’t have access to “the button,” so he won’t send in his soldiers into some country and try a take-over, nor will he threaten to fire a nuclear weapon and create a new world war.

But he can influence Catholics globally from any one of the thousands of masses he holds throughout his Papal career. Through his lectures, his readings, his blessings and his teachings, he influences his global following in the ways of the Bible – with a little hint of his own personal bias, and will.

It’s also noteworthy that influence is backed by a fiscal machine generating money from every corner of the world. No other government has such a wide reaching tax –base.

And that’s why choosing a new Pope is a big deal.

Regardless of your own beliefs, the military power of the American government, or the threat of nuclear war from North Korea, the Pope has the power of influence over billions of people around the world.

And it’s that influence which makes him a real force to be reckoned with.

Which is why all the world is waiting for a little plume of smoke.

If Everyone Hates Reality TV – Why Do We Watch?

Ever notice how quick we’ll complain about nothing being on television other than reality TV shows, but somehow, you happen to watch one of these highly popular shows?

Wonder why?

Perhaps it’s our human nature to watch others suffer more than ourselves?

Naw – you say – I’m not that sort of person.

Wanna bet?

Ever rubberneck?

Rubberneck. You know – when you slow down while driving or walking past an accident on the highway or road, to see what’s going on?

Everyone rubbernecks. So much so, many local governments have enacted anti-rubbernecking laws, so that people don’t stop too long and hold up traffic while passing accidents on local roadways.

Rubbernecking is a lot like watching reality TV – or at least the psychology behind them is identical.

Life is full of challenges. We all have our highs and our lows. That’s the way it goes.

However, scientists tell us we naturally take comfort in knowing we’re not alone in our lives. Not just the hugs, kisses and affection of loved friends and family – though that helps.

Science tells us we are genetically predisposition to seek comfort in other’s struggles with life. It makes us feel whole, complete, and above all – normal.

One of the most common complaints patients suffering from depression complain of, is a lack of fitting in with society. According to studies, these people delve deeper into depression’s ugly grips because they’ve cut themselves off from the outside world, and don’t see others going through life’s many challenges.

It’s not that we naturally feel better by the worse fates of others, instead, we’re comforted knowing we are not alone in our struggles to exist, and live meaningful lives.

So even though we all complain about reality TV, in some ways its therapeutic – which is why we all watch reality TV.

Now if only we could find something therapeutic in another format of television, to rid the world once and for all of silly, pointless reality TV.

Pass the remote control – it’s time for my therapy.

Why Won’t Print Just Die

Yesterday, Canada’s largest daily, The Toronto Star, sent out a memo to staff advising of layoffs, and outsourcing of various production and design work due to budget cuts.

The death bell has been ringing for years in the newspaper business, as digital on-demand media becomes the way most of the western world keeps connected.

SO how come print just won’t die?

Funny thing about technology – it makes it possible for even old things to be new once again.

Maybe we’re just waiting for the right genius kid to discover a new technological solution to re-ignite the newspaper business?

That kid better hurry up – there’s not much left at most newspaper offices these days except a few old curmudgeons and the blurry eyed interns that don’t see the proverbial forest for the trees.

When I was a kid, we got The Toronto Star delivered to our home every day. When it came, we’d take turns ripping through it, looking for our favourite sections.

We always fought over the "Star Week" the paper's TV Guide, this was back long before on-screen program guides which we all have now.

I really enjoyed the national, local and international news sections, along with “Wheels,” and I even liked some of what us old school reporters used to call “the woman’s section” known as “Life.”

I remembered enjoying the full-colour comics on Saturdays, and how they packed extra stuff into the weekend papers.

Thinking back, I feel sorry for the kid that was our newspaper carrier at the time, because the Saturday Star must have weighed as much as a Smartcar.

Those were the days before the Internet, social media, and on-demand digital media. People had more time – or so it seems now – to read through all the various sections, gloriously getting inked fingers from the constant page-turning.

Not so anymore – all broadsheet-width newspapers reduced their standard width years ago, simply because it was becoming too expensive to make such Bible-sized publications.

When that happened over 20-years ago, it was the start of the end for print. Newspapers, like most media sources, make their money by advertisers. The more advertisers, the more pages a paper can be, the more stories can be jammed in.

As people stopped reading papers, advertisers pulled out, meaning fewer pages for the already popular sections.

So newspaper moguls cut the size of the physical paper. They claimed at the time it was to make it easier for people to read, and in a way it was.

But truth be told, it was because newsprint costs went up, while ad revenues and readership went down.

Many major metropolitan daily newspapers including The New York Times, The Globe and Mail and others have attempted “pay walls” to bring in much needed cash flow.

A “pay wall” essentially lets you read part of a story, or a certain number of articles from the publication online, and then after that limit, you have to either pay for an online subscription, or pay a set price per article to continue reading.

Though when it comes to the end product – news – who’s going to pay for something you can get for free in a more timely manner via television, radio, or the social networks?

Pay walls aren’t going to save newspapers from their death.

And yesterday’s announcement of staff cuts and outsourcing labour by Canada’s largest daily certainly puts another knife in the back of an already dying media business.

Although I’m a digital media guy, I’ve always enjoyed newspapers, and hope that someone, somehow figures out a way to save them.

But time is not on their side, as they continue to slash staff, outsource production, and lose money, in our on-demand digital media world.

In the 24-Hour News Cycle Nothing Matters

I remember when I was a kid, and I’d be watching my favourite shows on television, when all of a sudden, the screen would dip to black. You’d swear you could hear mumbled voices, and then a still image of the network logo would appear on the screen, followed by the news anchors voice saying: “We interrupt regular programming to bring you a special breaking news broadcast.”

My parents would often gather around the TV when this happened, because back then, when breaking news was happening, it really was breaking news.

Think about the millions of dollars major television networks lost as they cut from their regular paid programming, to go to a live unsponsored telecast.

This is how the world learned of things that really did matter before the Internet and the always on news channels of CNN, BBC News and CBCnewsworld.

However, thanks to our vast information society, the term “breaking news” just doesn’t carry the same weight. Occasionally there is something really urgent going on which captures the attention of the world.

But because of the Internet and the 24-hour news networks, television and radio stations don’t feel the need to interrupt their regular programming anymore, and so “breaking news” has become a cliché used by these 24-hour news networks to keep people watching.

Breaking news isn’t really important anymore.

Most of the world watched in awe, as man walked on the moon – that was breaking news. Or when US President John Kennedy was shot dead, and the attempted assignation of another American leader, Ronald Reagan – these were breaking news events, as the world rallied around the success, mourned the loss, and feared for the future.

When NASA’s Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia fell from the sky (in separate, but equally tragic incidents) those were breaking news events because we were reminded as advanced as our tech makes us, we are all still mortal.

Today’s “breaking news” was about Queen Elizabeth’s release from a weekend hospital stay, after a bout of indigestion.

Really?

Yes, the Queen is an internationally recognized figure head, considered a leader of the British people –but because she ate something which didn’t agree with her, we’re supposed to be glued to our “tellies” cheering her recovery?

For all we know, she spent the weekend in and out of the bathroom doing what most of us do when we have a bad tummy – and I certainly don’t want to know about that!

Our information in an instant world is a wondrous thing. But sadly, it has changed our culture and society for the worse.

We no longer all gather ‘round the television when the words: “we interrupt our regular broadcast to bring you this special breaking news event,” are uttered in a rushed state.

Because “breaking news” these days isn’t really as the name implies, we no longer share in the important life lessons learned by our society, as truly globally important events shape humanity.

And that’s perhaps the saddest thing of all about our information age – although we all know what’s going on in the world, we don’t experience it anymore.

Should Criminals Host TV Shows?

Criminal record checks have become all too common as part of the hiring process. Employers want to know that you won’t steal their pencils.

But in some jobs, a criminal record check really does prevent problems for both employer and employee down the road.

Last thing a major television network wants, is to have it’s top rated morning show host taken away in handcuffs.

But if you’ve done the time for your crime, should you be allowed on television?

Television’s perfect home body, Martha Stewart is back on the TV, after doing time for securities fraud.

In Canada, media baron Conrad Black may be following the home body’s lead, as there is talk that he may get his own talk show on a cable channel available across the nation.

Conrad Black served time for fraud as well, just a different kind. His was to do with his newspaper empire, and made headlines in some of those papers, as he continued to write columns while in prison.

Now he may be on the airwaves, broadcasting his thoughts on television.

Which raises the question – should convicted criminals be hosting television shows?

We all make mistakes, and both Stewart and Black have paid for those mistakes by serving out their criminal sentences in prison.

But millions of people are denied even the most entry level of jobs, because of their criminal past.

Such as the teenage mom, that can’t get a job working in a retail store, because her criminal background check shows she was charged with theft. What it doesn’t show is she stole a loaf of bread to feed her kid.

There are other reasons why criminals don’t usually get put on the tube. The last thing any network president wants, is to turn on his station, to see someone telling the world how to break the law.

It’s unlikely Black or Stewart would publicly tell others to do something illegal. But the possibility is always there.

And our television personalities are role models for us all. We get hooked on their energy and drive, and often mimic them.

So putting criminals on television is bad for our kids, and ourselves.

Do we want others to follow Lance Armstrong?

Before the cyclist came forward with confessions of “doping” while competing he was a role model to many.

Now that he’s come out and spoken publicly about his drug-laden past, he’s on television even more – explaining himself and what he did.

Fair enough, television does provide a forum for public debate, and all sides should be allowed to participate.

But if someone were to offer Armstrong his own television show, I’d question that person’s motives.

And you should too.

America Isn’t the Great Country Everyone Thinks it Is

On the day when the first black American President is sworn in for his second term in office, all you have to do is re-read this sentence to see what is wrong with America.

When Barack Obama was first sworn in, he was jettisoned to instant rock star celebrity status. He made the history books, by becoming the first non-white man to lead the most powerful nation on our planet.

Today, he’s being sworn in for his second term in office, and although he has lost much of that rock star appeal, the most powerful country on the planet still can’t get over the fact that he’s not white.

Or at least that’s the image the rest of the world sees, when America makes more of a deal about their leader’s skin colour, than what he has accomplished.

Usually, when an American President is sworn into office – especially for the second time – the focus is on his past accomplishments, and possible future plans.

Although these are being discussed in Washington, DC, the media focus is once again on the colour of the re-elected leader.

Other countries may have rioting in the streets, extreme poverty where innocent children don’t get more than a stale piece of rock hard bread if they are lucky, for the whole day. There are other countries around the globe with brutal wars being fought, so the very thought of stepping outside for fresh air is a dangerous one.

Yet these places don’t make a big deal about the colour of their leader’s skin.

Perhaps the once thought of greatest country in the world, really isn’t so great after all?

There aren’t riots in the streets, extreme poverty, famine, disease, or brutal wars raging across America.

Well, there is one.

It’s that silent but deadly war called racism.

Because when the most powerful country in the world is more concerned with the colour of their leader’s skin, than what that person has done for their country, that brings to light the unspoken truth about America.

Despite all that American’s have achieved, they still are struggling with one of humanity’s most insidious traits.

Racism.

It’s a brutal battle in of itself. And it’s being played out on the world stage, by the very fact that despite having the same person in the White House for another four years, Americans can’t get over the fact that he’s not white.

Sad. 

Newtown Shooting the Media and You

Horror, shock, disgust, anger, rage, sympathy, sadness.

These are some of the many feelings we all went through, as news of the tragic shooting of innocent little kids in small town America spread.

The president of the United States cried as he responded live on television to the mass murder in Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown CT.

Last night, parents, families, friends, and neighbours all gathered in a small school gymnasium, while local religious leaders offered words of hope and prayer during the public memorial service for the victims of another act of random violence in America.

American President Barack Obama gave a solemn message of hope, saying that we cannot go on allowing this sort of thing to happen. This isn't the first time the American president has addressed parents and families of a school shooting.

World leaders issued statements, expressing their horror over the incident, and offering their condolences for the families and friends of the victims.

Parents all over the world echoed thoughts of hugging their children extra tight that night on all the major social networks.

Today has been labelled “Hug Your Kid Today” to encourage parents to hug their children, and tell them they love them.

Maybe tomorrow will be “Bring an Apple, Not a Gun to School” day?

When I was a kid, the most violent thing anyone ever witnessed was the occasional fist fight between two jocks trying to woo the same cheerleader.

Back then, it was too much testosterone and the foolishness of a youthful mind which occasionally caused someone to get a black eye.

These days, social pressures on our youth – and us all – build up until we explode. Most just punch a pillow, write a nasty blog, or maybe snap at their spouse.

Then you get those with access to guns.

They shoot people.

Innocent people.

People going on about their daily lives, not aware that today is their last day on Earth.

Over the next few hours, days and weeks, as the victims are laid to rest, the media will focus on the never-ending question about gun control in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The American Constitution’s Second Amendment tells citizens of that once great land, they are not only allowed to carry fire arms, but encourages them to use them to defend their freedom.

That fine piece of legalize – which is defined as the Supreme Law of the United States of America – was written in May of 1787, and adopted in September of that year by the Constitutional Convention. The law of the land was ratified by the then 11-member states, and went into effect on March 4, 1789.

Back in the 1700’s one could understand the logic of allowing people to own and use guns to defend their property. It was a very different time, long before the microchip.

The world was an unsettled place – a global wild west. The French Revolution began with the fall of Bastille on July 14, 1789. The Spanish captured the British schooner ‘Northwest America’ near Vancouver in June of that year.

It was the same year that Benjamin Franklin wrote: “there is nothing certain in life, except death and taxes.”

It was a time when governments were battling each other for land.

No wonder the founders of the United States of America wrote into law, the right to carry and use guns.

Times really have changed.

Wars still exist – but not in the land of the American dream.

Or do they?

Every time a crazed gunman goes on a killing spree in the States, the media, politicians and others raise questions about whether or not the law of the land should be amended, eliminating the right to bear arms.

And every time a crazed gunman goes on a killing spree in the States, the largest political action group in that country – the National Rifle Association (NRA) goes quiet at first – they took down their website today pending a slew of media attention and anti-gun lobbyists. Then the NRA enlists famous American cowboys to continue the fight for the right to carry and use guns.

It’s no longer a war over land, but over the right to shoot someone.

The NRA argues that guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

But it’s people with guns that kill people – often without guns.

It’s time the American constitution was amended to keep in touch with the reality of our modern times. We no longer need worry about someone coming onto our land to try and take it from us. The wild west is no more.

The Social Life and Times of Public Figures

Reading the morning news as I always do, I saw one of the headlines screaming something about how Toronto’s mayor was taking a vacation.

Aside from it being none of our business – and it isn't all that uncommon during the holiday season to take a holiday – this got me thinking about how invasive technology has become, especially to public figures.

Granted, those in the public’s eye have always been chased, hounded and even stalked by the media. But thanks to technology, now anyone with a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop or other mobile device can instantly dig up dirt on anyone – famous or not.

You can Google, tweet, friend, follow, fan or foursquare anyone these days. And in the case of the latter, you can show up where someone is, to snap a photo for Instagram.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford hasn't had a lot of success with the mainstream press. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with his policies or politics, there’s no question that he isn't very media savvy. He’s rough around the edges, says what he thinks, and does what he wants despite being advised otherwise.

And he’s paid the price – the media constantly chases Mayor Ford, just waiting for that “gotcha” moment to splash all over the local and national news.

However, where and when the mayor of Canada’s largest city takes a vacation is going too far. Everyone deserves time off. It isn't as if the city, the country or the world for that matter, will fall apart because any one of us takes a holiday.

Yet we know when famous people take time off, do wild crazy things, get into bar fights, or worse – go to jail for just being screw-ups.

Not that the life and times of Lindsey Lohan, Justin Beiber, or your local city or town’s mayor really means anything to you or me.

Famed scholar and media critic Noam Chomsky calls all of this unnecessary attention in the media on famous people a distraction from the issues that really do matter.

Chomsky is right – the time we spend chasing public figures while they vacation or do whatever else they do, takes us away from our own families and friends.

And thanks to social media, it is even easier to be distracted by other people’s problems, instead of solving our own.

Maybe that’s why we take so much time to fan, friend and follow people that we really never really know – because it distracts us from the harsh reality of our own lives?

Has Our Digital World Destroyed the Next Generation?

As I grow my new business, I’m talking to all sorts of folks who are looking for work, and want to join my fledgling new venture.

But I’m noticing a disturbing trend with many of the young adults I’m talking too – sort of a lacklustre aloofness. It’s as if they are just floating through life, without a care in the world.

I’m not unsympathetic, when I was in my early twenties I was still very much discovering myself. 

But at least I was trying different things, taking on the adventures the world tossed my way openly, as I feasted on all the new things I was learning about the world around me, and myself.

But kids today seem to lack that sense of self-exploration which my generation had. They are too tied to their mobile devices, their tech toys, and their small circles of close friends which are also tied to their mobile tech toys.

Has our digital world destroyed the next generation?

Are kids today so enveloped in technology, they have forgotten the world around them?

I’m building an on-demand television network, so when someone tells me they've always wanted to be on television, shoot a camera, edit a video, or just work within a television production, and I ask them why, I expect a long-winded answer.

Usually when someone is really interested in something, you can’t shut them up. If someone asks you about something you are passionate about, you should be able to go on, and on, and on – like the Energizer Bunny. 

But when I ask young adults why they've always wanted to be a TV reporter, host, producer or any other role we have, I usually get a deadpan answer more fitting for someone about to have a root canal than talk about their life-long dream.

When I ask them what they watch, read or listen to for inspiration in their self-admitted life-long dream, they usually tell me they don’t watch, read or listen to anything of the sort.

Even before I did my graduate work in broadcast journalism, while I was doing my undergraduate degree in a completely different field, I watched every major newscast, listened to various radio news shows, read all the daily papers, numerous magazines, and biographies of all the big name reporters, news anchors, publishers and producers.

If someone asked me why I wanted to be a journalist, I’d light up like a tree at Christmas, talking up a storm about the business which fuelled the fire of my soul.

These days, the only thing apparently igniting the souls of our future generations are their tech toys.

They are nose-deep buried in their mobile devices, texting tweeting and updating their social networks.

Although to a degree, I’m also buried in my mobile tech toys, I still have a passion, an interest – hell – a life – outside and away from my digital world.

Although I’m starting a digital media company, I know there is more to it than just being immersed in the digital world – as with any technology-based company.

No matter how dependent upon technology we all become, end of the day, it’s not iPhones, BlackBerry phones, laptops or tablets which make the world work – it’s people.

There’s an old saying, that those who are exceptionally good at what they do, have a real passion for what they do. They don’t just go to work, they go to play.

I've always believed in that – and hoped my passion for my work shone through in my work’s quality.

However, I’m concerned that future generations are so digitally distracted, they lack any passion for what they do.

Not just because the quality of their work suffers, but ultimately their lives suffer too.

Television Isn’t Worthy of One Eye

Broadcast television just isn't what it used to be.

Remember when you turned on the tube, sat down, and within seconds you were enjoying something interesting?

Even with the over 500 channel digital television universe, most things “aired” by broadcasters aren't worthy of one eye, let alone both. They hit below the belt – way below – for content these days.

Just ask Matt Lauer.

The television personality that has the honour of co-hosting NBC’s flagship morning show 'Today' was making his own news – if you can call it that – by doing a bit on how one of his colleagues slapped him on the butt behind the scenes.

They did a whole “bit” on how inappropriate it was, trying to make us laugh. Instead, if you have half a brain cell left after watching fellow co-hosts Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb drink themselves silly before most of us even have had a cup of coffee, were left wondering – WTF?

Gifford and Kotb both deny being alcoholics, yet they drink wine every morning. It’s just their thing – to drink first thing in the morning, at work, on TV.

If a high school teacher was doing the same thing at work in front of a class of kids, that teacher would be fired and sent to AA.

NBC isn't the only major American network producing brain numbing content, leaving us wondering what the hell?

Most American and Canadian networks produce crap these days – it’s a sad reality in this era of tasteless reality shows.

The Learning Channel – TLC – doesn't teach us much anymore. Unless you enjoy learning about someone crazy’s addiction to eating her dead husband’s ashes, in their show ‘My Strange Addiction.’

There are still some great shows on television. Showtime’s ‘Californication’ and HBO Canada’s ’Call Me Fitz’ are really amazing shows. They are well written, shot and directed.

'Californication' follows the wild life of novelist Hank Moody played by the undervalued David Duchovny, while 'Call Me Fitz' stars Canadian Jason Priestley as 'Fitz' -- an egomaniac used car salesman constantly battling his conscious.

The writers are both those shows is a thing even Shakespeare would give a nod too.

And that’s the real problem with most television these days – it’s not well written.

Writers are always undervalued – I was one – once. It doesn't matter whether it’s television, radio, print or even the web – they are still underpaid, overworked and treated like second-class citizens.

Which is why the shows are so poorly structured – you’d produce crap if you were treated like a slave.

So we get poorly written shows, with talent-less drunken hosts on major broadcast networks talking about butt-slaps, as our brain cells melt away in the miserable million channel universe.

Where’s my remote control? I can’t take it anymore.