A big congratulations to Mike Butcher at TechCrunch from me, who has made The Hospital Club 100, which was launched at the beginning of June this year in association with the Media section of UK newspaper The Independent. I'm a big fan of the Hospital, and have been a member since it opened, so seeing them recognise Mike and his input to the industry is a wonderful thing. About time too!
From the Hospital website:
In essence, it’s a search for the authentic stars and media power across London’s creative industries; film, television, music, new media, journalism, publishing, performing arts, marketing PR undefined events, fashion, art, advertising, media law undefined recruitment and celebrity.
Mike came 47th in the list, ahead of the likes of Jonathan Mildenhall, MD, Coca Cola, and David Joseph, Chairman/CEO of Universal Music U.K..
Sadly, most of the content about the Top 100 is behind a members only website, so I thought I'd republish the list in full for you here.
1. Banksy, graffiti artist. Still anonymous but now hosting his own The Cans Festival under Waterloo station
2. Mark Ronson, musician. Producer of the moment and triple Grammy winner, collaborating with
Amy Winehouse, Radiohead and many others.
3. Lis Murdoch, CEO, Shine television production company. Is growing into an international media mogul in her own right.
4. Jonathan Ross, chat show host BBC1, presenter Radio2. They knock his salary but he still dominates the world of broadcasting
5. Amy Winehouse, musician, Britainundefineds best voice and current tabloid darling
6. James McAvoy, actor, the star of Last King of Scotland, Atonement and now Wanted
7. Vivienne Westwood, fashion designer. At 67, Dame Vivienne is still an inspiration
8. Agyness Deyn, model. Britain’s next supermodel.
9. Daniel Craig, actor. The sixth 007 returns in October with Quantum of Solace.
10. Noel Fielding and Julian Barrett, comedy duo The Mighty Boosh
11. Simon Pegg, actor. He’s also a stand-up, a writer, a director and a singer.
12. Sam Taylor-Wood, artist. Contemporary film artist, collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys and this year with the Buzzcocks
13. Ian McEwan, author. Shortlisted yet again for the Booker last year with On Chesil Beach. The film adaptation of Atonement raised his profile even higher.
14. Edgar Wright, film director. Hit big first with Shaun of the Dead and then Hot Fuzz
15. The Ting Tings, musicians. The band of the moment, their album ‘We Started Nothing’ went straight to number one.
16. Simon Amstell, television presenter. Droll presenter of Never Mind The Buzzcocks
17. Daniel Radcliffe, actor. Harry Potter star causes nude stage sensation in revival of Equus
18. Jo Elvin, editor, Glamour magazine. Launch editor and still at the helm of the original handbag sized mag.
19. Rob da Bank, DJ, presenter Radio1, founder of ‘Bestival’. The creator of a festival that sold out faster than Glastonbury.
20. Barbara Machin, television writer. The brains behind hit drama Waking The Dead.
21. Damon Albarn, musician. Prolific, experimental and ground-breaking.
22. Christopher Bailey, creative director, Burberry. Breathing new life into one of Britain’s best-known brands.
23. Peter Fincham, director of television, ITV. The BBC’s loss is Michael Grade’s gain.
24. Stella McCartney, fashion designer. From lingerie to sportswear, skin care products and now handbags, everyone wants to collaborate with Stella.
25. Stefan Lindeman, stylist, Grazia magazine. Secret weapon of the sassy weekly glossy.
26. Emily Sheffield, deputy editor, Vogue magazine. Alexandra Shulman’s dynamic number two.
27. David Babani, artistic director, Menier Chocolate Factory, London. Creative force behind the cutting edge theatre venue.
28. Ashley Highfield, CEO, Kangaroo. The biggest of cheeses in digital media.
29. Natalie Massenet, CEO, Net-a-Porter. The woman who dresses the stars.
30. Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse), music producer. Created the cult Grey Album while living in south London. Half of chart-topping duo Gnarls Barkley.
31. Trevor Beattie, creative director, BMB, creative king of adland and champion of winning new business.
32. Ben Whishaw, actor. After a breakthrough role in Hamlet he is set to star in a fresh adaptation of Brideshead Revisited.
33. Gail Rebuck, chairman undefined CEO, Random House. Oversees a stable of authors that includes AS Byatt, Ian McEwan and Philip Pullman.
34. Joanna Shields, president, Bebo. The boss of the most youthful of social networking sites.
35. Mike Mathieson, CEO, Cake Media. The leaders in experiential media.
36. Henry Holland, fashion designer. The twenty-something founder of House of Holland.
37. Ben Tufnell, curator. The force behind the Haunch of Venison art gallery.
38. Jo Whiley, presenter Radio1. Has shown an unwavering commitment to breaking new music.
39. Daisy Goodwin, head girl, Silver River television production company. High achieving telly exec who also writes poetry books.
40. James Herring, managing partner, Taylor Herring PR. Star publicist in the television and entertainment sector.
41. Ajaz Ahmed, Chairman, AKQA
42. Leona Lewis, Singer
43. Anne Marie Thomson, Head of Media and PR, Syco Music
44. Lisbeth Savill, Olswang
45. David Zeffman, Olswang
46. Stuart Bell, Media Director, The Outside Organisation
47. Mike Butcher, Editor, Techcrunch UK
48. Dave Stansbie, Creative and Strategic Director
49. Will Lewis, Editor-in-Chief, The Telegraph Media Group
50. Caroline Michel, CEO, PFD
51. Michael McCabe, Producer (Wicked, Spring Awakening)
52. Sebastian Faulks, Author
53. Eric Felner / Tim Bevan, Producers
54. Danny Cohen, Controller of BBC 3
55. Josie Rourke, Artistic Director, The Bush
56. Julia Peyton Jones, Director, Serpentine Gallery
57. Henry Deedes, Editor, Pandora, The Independent
58. Nick Denton, Founder, Gawker Media
59. Jonathan Mildenhall, MD, Coca Cola
60. Andy Coulson, Director of Comms, Conservative party
61. Oliver Marre, Diarist, The Observer
62. Gok Wan, Stylist, TV Presenter
63. Peter Kominsky, Stonehenge Films
64. Russ Lidstone, Chief strategy officer, Euro RSCG London
65. David Joseph, Chairman/CEO of Universal Music U.K.,
66. David Gamble and Simon Labbett, Creative Directors, Saint
67. Shane Meadows, Director/screenwriter
68. Jane Featherstone, Managing Director, Kudos Productions
69. Will Harris, Marketing Director, Nokia
70. Emma de la Fosse undefined Charlie Wilson, Creative Partners, OgilvyOne Worldwide
71. Richard Curtis, Director
72. Bill Prince, Deputy Editor, GQ
73. Alasdhair Willis, Founder, Established undefined Sons
74. Justine Simons, Greater London Authority
75. Thera Sharrock, Producer
76. Mark Thwaite, Editor, Ready Steady Book
77. Carrie Hindmarsh, MD, MundefinedC Saatchi
78. Wayne Arnold, CEO, Profero
79. Peter Mountstevens, Managing Partner, Taylor Herring
80. Gavin Turk, Artist
81. Amanda Ross, MD Cactus TV
82. Nicola Shindler, Founder, Red Production
83. Nica Burns, CEO, Nimax Theatres
84. Simon Trewin, Agent, United Agents
85. Carlos Acosta, Principle Guest Artist, Royal Ballet
86. Nicola Stephenson, Founder and MD of Mission Media
87. Flo Heiss, Creative Partner, Dare
88. Simon Jenkins, Columnist, The Guardian
89. Justin Walkey, Bird undefined Bird
90. Phil Hilton, Editor, Shortlist
91. Jim Dye, Roxanne Messenger, Copywriter, art director, kitcatt nohr alexander shaw
92. Mollie Dent Brockelhurst, Gaggosian Gallery, London
93. James Selman, Senior Account Director of Media, Freud Comms
94. Danny Rimer, Partner, Index Ventures
95. Andrew Perera, Regional VP of Comms, MAC Cosmetics
96. Richard Pierson, New-Business Director, Bartle Bogle Hegarty
97. Owen Williams, Press undefined Publicity Officer, House of Lords
98. Enyi Nwosu, Partner, CHI and Partners
99. Melina Jacovou, Managing Director, Propel London
100. Farah Ramzan Golant, CEO, AMV BBDO LTD
And he's not the only one, there's a whole bunch of them at it. What a load of cobblers.
Surely I can't be the only person who's worked out that it's not how many people follow you, but what you ratio of followers to following is that ranks you as an interesting and popular Tweeter?
If I see someone has got a 1:1 ratio, I can assume that they use Twitter with their close friends, and tend to follow people that also follow them. It's not water tight, but it's a fairly good hypothesis. Similarly, if I get followed by a user who follows more people than is followed by, I can assume that actually they're probably quite interesting, but depending on how high the number differential is, they're not as interesting as their group. Afterall, their group would follow them back otherwise, no? This extends right out to the people following thousands, and being followed by maybe 10. These people I avoid following like the plague.
So, Jason Calacanis with his 17,204 followers just doesn't impress me. He's following 12,302. that makes his ratio a rather limp 1:1.5 give or take. Even if I was to follow him, it's going to be a one way relationship isn't it. There's no way my Tweets are going to make it through his 17,204 at least daily updates on average (I'm guessing here).
Check out someone like Mike Butcher on the other hand, with his 1,103 followers to 335 followings, and you've got a 1:3. I know immediately he must have some really interesting Twitter chat going on. Also, you know that at 335 people Mike is actually following people he wants to know about. Whereas what buy in would I get from a Twitter baiter? None at all.
Final thought aka Thayer Rant: When will people realise the value of social media - especially the so called experts in these fields - it is not about quantity of information or network, it's about quality.
If you're all about the quantity, then you're not a social media mogul, you're an e-marketeer at best, and a spammer at worst. Nobody cares if you're being followed by 17,000 people if you've bribed them with a prize, or offered them sudo friendship. It doesn't mean you're popular, it just means you're desperate, or selling something, or both.
As always, these are my views, and I know that some people won't agree with them.
It was a really enjoyable evening; the hosts were incredibly hosty - the US team had even flown over straight from their US launch to join their UK couterparts, and they were all really friendly and down to earth. So good to see a bunch of people so genuinely interested in hearing feedbcack and having some fun.
In particular I had a good chat with Mitch McAlister (Head of Product) about what they've been up to regards developing European products and services. It was interesting to find out about the localisation of it all. I've never been a Myspace user so it was great to have someone so passionate and knowledgable talk me through some of what they're up to.
I also managed to catch up with Richard Moross from Moo which was fun. We're both photo fans, so I had bad camera envy when he took out his rather sublime SLR, having only my crappy mobile camera on me just didn't even compare. Thankfully, just as I was about to pop from jealousy, Evan Hamilton from Flock came over and talked us through what they've been up to. Another super chap who had flown all the way from California just to be at the launch event.
All in all a really enjoyable evening, with old friends and new, and brownie points to the US team for coming over, it was a real pleasure to meet you all! Especially John Faith (Executive Director of Engineering) who not only flew straight over with a hangover but also gave us an interesting presentation on the future of the developer platform. Top work.
I'm probably over simplifying somewhat here, but isn't this what late night telly ads already provide as a service? You know, "call 0890 and find other interesting people in your area"?
Paul Birch, founder of Cominded comments on the post, "We believe there is something ‘magical’ about human 1 to 1 voice conversation."
Surely though you pick up a 'phone, and call a person you want to speak to? Pre-recorded voice snipets aren't conversation, they're sound bites / answerphone messages? I have to point out at this stage I haven't used the product (it's in beta, and so far no invite) so it's very possible I am missing something.
Perhaps though, the 0890 model point has hit the nail on the head, a cheaper alternative to sex chat lines? Could be useful/cheaper for the singles industry?
Then again, if I was going to go down that route then WooMe has already done this and is a fantastic product for both voice and video chat.
The one thing I just don't get at all is on the TechCrunch post Mike mentions, "... you can’t send voice messages to people who aren’t in your Skype contact list." So, er... Apparently, you can call your friends, and leave them a mass answerphone message...
Anybody else got one eyebrow raised at this point..?
From the description, I just can't even find it in me to try out the beta. I know, that's pretty poor show for someone interested in social media, but it just sounds like something I'm never going to use, or suggest to a client to use over existing products.
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