Jim and Mike

Research In Motion Co-CEO’s Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis just stepped down and the board has named COO Thorsten Heins as the new CEO and President of the company. Mike also stepped down as Chairman and will serve instead as Vice-Chairman of the Board. Jim will still be director of the company (but in a non-operational role). It will be interesting to see how much of an effect on the stock price of RIM.

Here’s the video introducing the new RIM CEO to the world:

What do you guys think? Will we see any major changes at RIM or will it stay the same?

Via The Verge

Epic.

Soonr Scribble is an amazing application which lets you annotate any document and send it back to the cloud so that your team can see your comments. The app is optimized for the Samsung Galaxy Note which has the S Pen. This means you can just whip out your Note, check out a PPT/PDF/Image from the cloud, scribble your comments, and throw it back for revisions. Check out the videos below.

Soonr Scribble will be available in the Samsung App Market (Android) by the end of this month. No details yet if it’s a free app or not. If they price it properly I’m definitely going to get it.

I fully support the campaign 100%. You can expect me to tweet, post photos, and share stuff on Facebook. I do have a few suggestions though that I wanted to share here on NMP.

1.) Sustainability: Hitting the top trending list on the first day is a good feat but what do we do from here? How do we continue to mobilize, inspire, and get Filipinos to keep tweeting and posting on Facebook? Maybe this is where the website will come in. It has to be interactive, inclusive, and will get Pinoys to participate.

2.) Focus on the Believers: I have a strong feeling that there are ridiculously more people who support the campaign that those who don’t and just want to whine. Focus on inspiring and galvanizing the believers. Ignore the naysayers for now. There is nothing that can be done to make them switch sides. If ever there is I think it will just take too much effort, lol.

3.) Get that website up and running ASAP: We need a solid Google footprint to take advantage of search. Hire the best SEO consultant you can find in the Philippines and make him work with you on this one. BBDO might be one of the best creative agencies around but I’m sure they’re not the best SEO experts. SEO is crucial especially if you’re targeting a global market.

4.) Partner with the private sector: There are a lot of companies and individuals out there who would love to help out. Tap them.

That’s it for now. Will add to this if anything comes to mind!

Thoughts on Social Media Monitoring & Intelligence

Analytics plays a crucial role in any field of work and that includes social media. I’ve used Radian6 before and it churned out fantastic reports that helped us decide on a lot of important issues in 2011. However the biggest problem with this service is that it’s brutally expensive especially if your search results are in the tens of thousands. It’s hard to justify the monthly fees for services like this.

That’s my hope with ThoughtBuzz. I hope that they will adjust the price to the Philippine market so that more companies can get their feet wet in social media monitoring and intelligence.

On a more personal note…

Jonas De Los Reyes

New Media PH: What was the inspiration behind Rappler.com? How and why did it come about?

Maria Ressa: A year ago, a group of friends and I started to try to imagine the future. I believe the models of journalism – both in practice and in business – are outdated given new technology. It’s like we’re living through a time of cataclysmic change, but the “professionals” were too busy sticking to what we knew to actually feel the ground shifting beneath our feet. What would happen if we imagine news for the Internet and mobile, incorporating a bed of social media? How would journalism change – in processes and philosophy? Then add another idea: crowdsourcing. For the first time in our history, journalists can actually do more than just tell stories. We can act – by giving direction to hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of small actions for change.

So that’s what Rappler is – a social news network where stories inspire community-engagement and digitally-fuelled actions for social change. Rappler comes from the root words “rap” (to discuss) + “ripple” (to make waves). Rappler is the center of 3 interlocking circles: professional journalism, the wisdom of crowds and rich media (technology).

We promise uncompromised journalism that – we hope – inspires smart conversations and ignites a thirst for progress.

New Media Philippines: What sets Rappler apart from all the other news sites in the PH?

Maria Ressa: Several things:

• Moodmeter: After pushing the ABS team onto social media in 2009, I realized how fast emotions spread in the virtual world. 2011 showed how emotions spread through large groups of people – with the Arab spring, London riots and Occupy Wall Street. Studies show that 80% of the way we make decisions are determined by what we feel. At the same time, neuroscientists say that the simple act of labeling our emotions increases our ability to reason. That’s why I believe the moodmeter will serve not just a fun, curiousity factor but it can also mitigate the spread of emotions through social networks online and offline. It’s a hearts and minds approach to news!
• Decades of experience in traditional journalism
• I believe we’re the only news group owned and operated by journalists.
• Track record with crowdsourcing and social media. Among our team are the creators of the citizen journalism programs of the top two networks.
• Collaborative approach to journalism and social media.

New Media PH: How will the site generate revenue? Online advertising? Subscription?

Maria Ressa: Like the site, we’re coming up with innovative ways to help shift and grow digital advertising. Why? Because the numbers are there.

As of mid-2010, internet penetration rate is 33%; mobile phone penetration is 91%. 50% of all new internet connections are mobile mid-2010, and telcos expect that to increase in the coming year. So the Philippines will move beyond computer access to mobile/phone access online.

Filipinos are early adaptors to new technology. For years, the Philippines was “the text capital of the world.” Now it is outstripping other countries around the world in the use of social media. Again, as of mid 2010, the Philippines was the TOP Facebook market in the world with a 93.7% reach (ComScore) and ranked 8th globally on Twitter at 13.8%. Compare Facebook’s 24 million Filipinos (this probably got higher now) with the 15 million TV households in the country.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Philippines will follow the trend in the West – meaning more people (and advertising) will move away from television and go online. Today, online spending is much less than print and broadcast media, but studies have already shown they prompt engagement and action. 80% of Filipinos use the Internet daily (incl internet cafes) at an average rate of 6.8 hours a day (compared with TV’s 60% at 3.7 hours daily).

This highlights opportunities for applications that can help social problems as well as build a sustainable commercial venture.

– END –

Click here to see the team behind Rappler.