Is Plaxo relevant anymore?

Plaxo Facebook Connect Promo Email

“Link your Plaxo and Facebook accounts (and get more out of both)” the header of the email I received today from Plaxo. Is that truly what I want or need? More importantly is it what my friends and contacts on both Facebook and Plaxo need? By allowing Facebook to connect with my Plaxo profile I could inadvertently create even more noise in the already crowded social media space and burn more contacts by flooding them with surplus or repeated information.

When I first signed up for Plaxo in approximately 2003 it was an online storage depository for my contacts that would allow my contacts to update their own details whenever they moved house, changed job or bought a new phone number. At some stage Plaxo repositioned itself to become a challenger to LinkedIn, a networking site for business people. Including OpenSocial was a good step to making it easier to sign-in to my Plaxo account with my Yahoo ID, especially when considering its formerly complicated password retrieval system. Plaxo Pulse’s introduction in 2007 allowed users to provide updates on their online activity of other sites. Since Plaxo’s purchase by Comcast in July 2008 there have been no press releases and few update communications from the company. There were murmerings that Facebook was looking to acquire Plaxo not so long ago. With this announcement today the site appears to exist in a slightly murkier realm sub-Facebook and competing with FriendFeed.

FriendFeed aggregates content from multiple social media sources including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube etc, and allows the user to organize the feeds of information into groups that communicate e.g. marketing experts, friends, work colleagues, friends that follow the same sports teams, fans of Coldplay that can put up with Chris’ voice etc. Plaxo Pulse held the upperhand with social media site aggregation being two years ahead of FriendFeed but today I don’t know what value it offers to me- an average consumer of social media trends and online applications.

What does Plaxo allow me to do that adds more value than LinkedIn, my business social networks or FriendFeed where I aggregate my social media streams or Facebook where my online friendship network lives? Is it just another way to lose friends online? Is it a faster way to get fired? Either way, I’m using a lot of tools to manage my online life. Maybe its time to cut back on a few.

Paxo - sage and onion chicken stuffing, not to be used with your PC or Mac.

Post script: For those British fellows not familiar with online networking and social media, reassured that Paxo, the sage and onion chicken seasoning amd stuffing will always be relevant.

Thoughts on the demise of Southampton Football Club

Having just watched Manchester United beat a poor Hull City side in the English Premier League’s final round of games and by quirk of fate seal their status in the top flight of English football, I’ve begun to reflect on the demise of the team I’ve supported through think and mainly thin – Southampton Football Club.

Although I live in NYC, I take every opportunity I’m able to seek out the fortunes of the Saints via supporters forums online, Internet radio, my iPhone, televised highlights on my computer or TV through Fox Soccer Channel, a random game on Setanta or a visit to the club every trip home to England. However its difficult to describe affection for what losing this connection to a football club means without coming across as cliched or worse a poor imitation of Nick Hornby.

As a young lad, I grew up in the South of England and at the age of eight I found my interest in football growing and the need for a team to support and players to idolise. Generally accepted wisdom suggests that football teams are chosen by a combination of factors that include the closest team to where you live(d), who your parents supported and who was popular at the time. My closest team by geography was Southampton Football Club, an underdog if ever there was one, and I was lucky enough to attend a few games at The Dell with friends. In 1976 the club won its greatest honour the FA Cup, sadly I was three years old and living in Edinburgh, Scotland at the time. By 1982, Southampton’s best finish in the top flight of English football – second place, I had my first replica kit and my dedication was cemented.

Southampton have been on a downward rollercoaster ever since, with moments of snatched glory and marginal highlights glimmering through including an FA Cup final appearance against Arsenal in 2003, a 6-3 victory over Manchester United in a Premier League game, dramatic escapes from relegation and inspired individual performances on the pitch from players like Matt Le Tissier. The following BBC slideshow BBC’s slideshow captures many of the highs and lows of Saints demise. Off the pitch the club moved from The Dell, one of the coziest grounds to a legitimate full sized stadium St Mary’s, sold many of its best players and struggled with financial and boardroom challenges.

Regardless of how the club has performed or where I’ve lived my allegiance has never wavered, meaning I’ve sat through and by accounts forced friends and girlfriends to experience watching Southampton lose on TV in grimy, smelly bars all over New York City. Some have even had the pleasure of watching Saints in England and taste the gastronomic dirge that is steak and kidney pie. Relegation to the Championship tested my patience as even fewer Saints games were televised in the U.S. leaving me to huddle over a computer to listen to Internet radio commentary of games we invariably lost.

Regardless of the misery Southampton Football Club have helped me endure, I’d prefer not to lose this constant relationship. Part of my English being, personality and connection to the motherland is maintained through the Saints. I’ve moved away from home, changed job, immigrated country, married, divorced, loved musical groups and then despised them but the one true constant is my football club allegiance.

Through poor performance on the pitch last season the club finds themselves relegated to League One, the third level of English football, and face a ten point deduction for falling into a state of not being able to pay wage bills or other outstanding debts. If Saints do exist next season in League One playing the likes of Millwall, Yeovil and Exeter my trips home to watch games will be less than glamorous… there will be no David Beckham’s for my girlfriend to watch. Most importantly the club needs to be rebuilt from the boardroom down, living within our means and building up and out of League One, without being tempted to look beyond our capabilities. I’d love to see the club receive new ownership, although why anyone would invest in a football club is beyond me with even Manchester United in debt to the tune of millions of pounds.

Financial mismanagement has led the club to the brink of not existing for a “next season” at all. Without a new investor the club will be effectively bankrupt. Meaning the club will be extinct. The will be no more Southampton Football Club to waste countless hours and money over, and rather dramatically part of me would no longer exist either. Without a football club at all how much would I change for better or worse. Personally I hope I only ever have to contemplate the awful prospect and never actually deal with it. To the fans of Newcastle United, Middlesborough and West Bromwich Albion think on to a next season. To my Saints supporting brethren – fingers crossed we’ll have a next season.

To be a Briton in America on July 4th

So what does it feel like to be a Briton in America on the day the country is celebrating its severance from my nationality? Despite the one cringingly daft question I seem to get asked every year “Do you celebrate July 4th in England?” Actually that question is surpassed in daftness by a question I hope no Briton is ever asked again “Did you play Quidditch when you were growing up in England?” A dutiful yet polite “No…because I don’t know how to fly” helped settle the score on the latter question.

Nine times I’ve been witness to America’s celebration of its independence from England and every time I’ve realized, although I’m a Briton and happy to remain one, celebrations really are quite good here. Food, weather, the fireworks and the flags. Yes, New Year’s Eve fireworks in London are great, and barbecues and the British summer are also fine occasions but what’s missing is the industrious purpose and preparation of Independence Day. The cleaning, polishing and tidying things up as “Old Glory” looks down leaves everything looking brighter, crisper and shinier than at any other day of the year. In stores people are buying vast quantities of meat, beer, chips and preparing to eat and be merry as if their patronage to the flag was being questioned and by eating ones weight in salty snacks you were able to prove heritage.

That’s the curious part about the years I’ve enjoyed living in America. When asked my nationality I’ll reply British; born in Scotland of a Scottish father and English mother, my formative education and upbringing took place in the counties of Surrey and Hampshire, England makes me a person of Great Britain. Ask the same question of an inhabitant of the UK and the answer would like be English, Scottish, Welsh etc., people tend to give a more direct nationality.

The reciprocal answer to my question in America is often a little more complex. America is a nation of immigrants and almost everyone claims a mixed background. No one is technically “American.” My group of close friends includes an Italian (born in New Jersey of parents from the same state whose grandmother is from Italy), a Dutchman (born in Iowa whose parents were born in Iowa whose relatives may have been from Holland), a Norwegian-Cherokee Indian, Dutch and British mix who’s quite charming.

The neighborhoods of New York City tell a similar tale. Many of the Puerto Ricans in Spanish Harlem not far from my former neighborhood were technically born in New York City, the Greeks in Queens, and Italians and the Irish, many born on the fair isles of America salute two flags but come July 4th everyone’s American. Its a day of shared national pride. It’s a day to forget where you’re from but remember instead where you are.

July the fourth – Independence Day is a day I enjoy. Plenty of food, drink and happy people. Every country should celebrate a national holiday like this. Though perhaps the 80s nostalgic Neil Diamond accompaniments to the fireworks displays could be toned down just a touch. Happy birthday America.

George Washington Bridge carries Old Glory

Did You or Someone Else Secure Your Facebook Name F-O-R-E-V-E-R [dun-dun dadada]

Last night’s Facebook “vanity address” grab felt like a PR campaign. Tension and anticipation was built up through blog posts on Facebook, followed by media coverage intimating that brands and individuals would be fighting for their online identity. In reality, a handful of people logged on at midnight and blundered their way through the one click process of securing their ‘Facebook’  identity f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Like a bad driving license or passport photograph, one mistake or over eager click of a button and Facebook users would be stuck with a miss-spelled name or punctuation in places that didn’t need it. At least that was part of the story.

Hysterical Media Reaction to Facebook Name Claim

Its difficult to tell how many people actually stayed by a computer, the minutes ticking down until midnight when the application system was activated, however reading the conversation on Facebook and Twitter amongst my small group of friends it appeared that 5% of us took the time to make the change almost immediately. Mashable claimed that 200,000 names were applied for in 3 minutes last night.  Mine was more luck that planning, as I returned home close to midnight having a great night out with close friends watching Josh Ritter open Central Park Summerstage’s 2009 season with a mellow performance amongst the trees.

Rosh Ritter at Summerstage 09

Relaxing, with beer in hand, I logged onto Facebook and clicked the first named option available www.Facebook.com/philip.robertson. Moments after accepting the address for the [insert dramatic tension...perhaps I should create a blog post and conduct calls to reporters to build up the tension] “rest of my life,” I realized I didn’t need punctuation in the middle of my name. Fortunately Facebook also captured www.facebook.com/philiprobertson for me. But why offer the two alternatives and why assign them to the same person? Surely this will reduce the number of available accounts, unless there’s something I’m missing or perhaps its not as important as was suggested in the hype beforehand.

Life didn’t change after I secured my own personal brand… er… name my parents gave me. So I’m off to the gym. Safe in the knowledge something even less dramatic will happen sometime soon.. but with probably greater significance and I’ll miss out because its really not that important in the greater scheme of things.

Marcel Marceau Missed His True Professional Calling By Months

As hard as it is for a grown man of 35 years to sit in front of a big HDTV wearing a communication headset attached to a plastic control device, any feelings of mild humiliation are tempered when immersed in a fierce online virtual gunfight with friends.  Every gamer knows that feeling of anticipation; staring, unblinking, at the screen, waiting for the moment a deftly executed sprint-and- stab combination yields instance death to an enemy delivered by a careful flick of a few buttons and bumpers on a controller. Admittedly there is a sheepish feeling that descends once ones girlfriend walks into the room to determine why the aforementioned adult has yelped with glee, loudly enough for the neighbors to hear.

That sense of anticipation took on a greater sense this week as Microsoft, purveyors of the remarkably fine and popular Xbox video game system, announced Project Natal the ‘insert PR person’s claim that its the “next evolution” of gaming…’ By the popularity indicators of today the new concept is capturing the online communities imagination as “Project Natal” ranked highly as a search term on Google, as a topic of conversation on Twitter and spawned many videos on YouTube.

It appears that what Microsoft is proposing is stripping away the controller and headset from where grown adults hide, and replacing it with nothing. That’s right “nothing.” Project Natal is supposed to leap forward a generation beyond Nintendo’s motion-sensing controllers that allowed anyone to participate in virtual bowling, boxing, dancing, prancing, swaying, heading, yoga-ing exercise routine, by introducing gaming without a device in hand. Tangible-intangible gaming if you will. No longer will mature gamers be able to pointlessly dodge and weave to simulate their immersion in the action, to confirm they are unable to interact with ones partner about the choices for dinner or deny being responsible for household chores because  of the plastic control device in their hands.

Xbox Project Natal

Project Natal was introduced at E3, the electronic entertainment expo, by Steven Speilberg representing the pensioner demographic, where herds of the curious imagined miming activity that would be relayed by motion-sensing cameras through a video game system to a monitor where movements will be translated into real-life ‘virtual’ activity. The concept appears feasible and engaging. Look how easy and accessible Nintendo’s Wii has made gaming for grandparents. Only this morning NBC’s Today Show ran a segment featuring a retirement community of octogenarian boxers and 298-bowlers.

However Project Natal poses many questions for me which I probably won’t be able to answer until my grandparents or parents buy the system. Will Project Natal signal the end of a generation of overweight, pale children that evolve over-developed ‘virtual gaming’ muscles? Will people become more healthy because they are miming participation in activity rather than guiding onscreen characters to take part through operation of controllers by fingers and thumbs? What will happen to the “Xbox finger” support group? How will the motion-sensor compensate for overally expressive Europe nationalities that tend to communicate with a great deal of arm flailing? How much embarrassment will the new system’s auto detection of participants gender cause for long haired gamers? And does Project Natal contribute to Microsoft’s second coming? You might be able to find guidance on Bing.com.

Project Natal Be The Thing That Slides Under Your Couch

Writing these reactions to the future of a pastime my friends and I have bonded over for years, has helped me realize that it might, “might,” be time to grow up and become a functioning adult, retire my controller, controllers actually, including the Guitar Hero Gibson Les Paul replica… Perhaps I could particpate in actual golfing, bowling, drinking and watching football. Or perhaps I could stand in the warm, dry comfort of my living room, not having to wait for the hackers in the group in front, as I swing my arms and turn my hips before watching my seven iron approach to the green come to rest within gimme distance as I take part in my “regular healthy exercise.” Will I need a gym or golf club membership? I’ll never need to leave home. With the money saved I could by sunlamps to compensate for not ever being outside. Waiting for tee-times, an open lane at bowling will be a thing of the past as I mime my freetime away. The virtual future is here and Marcel Marceau missed his true calling by merely months, god rest his face-painted soul.

My Introduction

When a search for “How to construct, edit and maintain a blog with multiple topics ranging from Brit-rock music to English football, from social media marketing and public relations to consumer tech, Apple iPhone apps and other stuff that happens in my life?” failed to yield the perfect resource for putting together this blog, I decided to make it up. My blog will not be a hyper-focused series of articles on one topic for that wouldn’t be the authentic Philip. With interests that cut across many aspects of life I’ll attempt to capture the elements I, and hopefully anyone reading these pieces, will also find interesting and valuable.

The “About” section of this blog will capture a little about me and what this blog will cover, however, I’m going to introduce myself and elements of what make me – Philip Robertson in this post. I’m a Brit, born in Edinburgh, Scotland who moved to England when I was very young. No, I don’t have a Scottish accent, in fact my only recognizable Scottish trait is my translucent skin which adopts in a marvelous palate of reds and pinks during the summer months as my skin cooks like shrimp. My formative years were spent on the south coast of England in and around the town of Alresford, Hampshire, the surrounding towns, villages and cities amid the green countryside.
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Five years were spent in London working in public relation’s agencies, enjoying the indie-rock music scene in addition to exploring different cities throughout Europe. Which brings us upto the present and my life in New York where I’ve spent eight good years, working in marketing communications roles with public relations agencies and in marketing departments of companies.

Living in New York City has afforded me the opportunity to visit more than half the states in America, elation, confusion, fear… sorry, I probably should have introduced my random bouts of odd humor earlier in this piece. Bear with me, it will become easier to understand.

New York City is my current home and feels like a hub to me. Its a place trade, art, music, fashion etc, etc, visits if not begins in some instances, which provides opportunity to experience a wide variety of ..well.. differing experiences of pretty much everything. Touring bands stop in New York, usually only the better or more established UK acts to whit I’m largely influenced. And occasionally a band will  begin their fledgling music career in one of the smaller venues and I”ll get to see it.

Benzos at Rothko

Tradeshows and summits frequently take place here bringing a rich diversity of industry. Professionals, companies and people needing attention flock to New York City to seek the rapture of the influencers and column inches or time on screen. And the people of every nation live here adding flavor, flavour or ‘flavah’ depending on which part of the city I or they are passing through.

This is my justification for writing about many unrelated and different topics. I hope you enjoy them, comment section is open and there are multiple ways listed on how to contact me more personally. Oh, and if you must post spam for male enhancement products etc or other freebies please consider whether adding more of me or my offspring to this planet is really what you want for this planet.