Quora: a review
Quora is a social Q&A website in Beta. I admire their product, their community, and their technical ingenuity. I envy their team, investment, and to a lesser degree their location. I think their broad, unfocused vision, and immature quality control mechanisms will pigeonhole them and prevent scalability. Of course they might pivot successfully, but there is no indication of that occurring, yet.
What Quora is doing well:
- Questions are the center of all discussion and duplication is prevented as much as possible.
- Real time user discussions create an addictive atmosphere for sharing
- Their network tools work very well
- Community building within the tech sector
rebels, jesters, believers, and thinkers
We are building a game of value. What does that mean? We see a distinct need for a neutral and engaging way to get all of us talking about our values. Here is some evidence of the gap identified at the world economic forum. The people of this planet have many deeply held beliefs, values, and opinions and Gaia wants to create a value management system to help us discuss them. The game part is in the mechanics, that filter and organize the content. The more you help out, the more prominence and influence you will wield, to promote the values you have. If this interests you, in even the slightest manner, we have a request. Select one of the four factions below that resonates for you and take action. Together we can shift the world and show our collaborative colors!
Are you a rebel?
Definition #2 To resist or defy an authority or a generally accepted convention.
Rebels want freedom. They want control over their destiny and choices. They want freedom from authority, rules, and restrictions. We love freedom and think our democracies would be much better served if we promoted and valued our rebels more. Marc Emery is a rebel who is currently locked up for selling seeds (a heinous crime indeed). What rule or authority are you railing against? Read more
idea wave!
I just applied to this cool conference in Victoria called Idea Wave. It’s on July 10-11, 2010. Here is my application to speak for 10 minutes about the QuestionCollector. By the way, I’ve been trying to think of a better name for the product. Maybe PeaceQuest? (the domain is for sale, but I can’t afford it yet.) Would love to hear your ideas for a name.
Title:
A value centered social game for questioning everything.
Talk Abstract:
A text-based social game for online debate. We want your questions, the ones that burn
in your identity. The ones that move you to action. The ones that make you burst into
laughter. We want you to gather with people and organizations of similar values and form
questioning communities. We want to serve your debates, and opinions in a fun and
neutral sandbox where you control your identity. Most of all, we want you to feel
empowered to share your vision. Read more
Help me make it to round three!
May 10 is the deadline for my submission to qualify for round three of the New Ventures BC 2010 contest. I’m writing this post to detail my current draft plans and get feedback from you. Is it clear? Did I answer the questions? What else should I consider? I would love your harshest criticisms and any encouraging comments you can spare. Thanks for reading!!!
customer outreach
If this is your first time here I recommend checking out my updated prezi for a short intro into what the f#*k I’m doing.
I’ve been working on my positioning statement and I have some homework to talk with my target customers about them. If you are interested in this game, does the following statement resonate with you? If you aren’t in the target market (youth age 14-32) are you still interested in the game? I would love your comments, suggestions, and/or criticisms, either below or via skype chat: jazzmann_91
The QuestionCollector is an online game of debate for people who want to be heard. It provides a social network for questioning everything and unlike eRepublik, Farmville, or Pet Society the QuestionCollector delivers real world significance and entertainment value. Read more
Help me!
I would appreciate any feedback on this presentation. Is it clear? What do you like? What do you dislike? What do you think is missing? What am I doing wrong? Yes I am doing lots wrong, but need your help identifying my additional weaknesses. Do you think this could work? Would you want to play?
Thanks for reading!
design update
I’ve been a little over concentrated on drafting designs, and not publishing enough. I’ve also had a request for clarity on what my service will be. I serve free speech, collaboration, and peace. If you care, believe, or think about anything that would be considered subjective, philosophical, and/or political, you are my customer. I am designing the framework to store and/or publish your opinions, as well as interact with other users. The framework will be a social game where users do all the work of creating and managing which opinions rise to the top and which slink away rejected. Read more
Top Secret Product: pitch for peace
This is an updated version of a speech I gave on Dec 2, 2009 at Victoria Beaver Toastmasters. The scene is a cocktail party. I’ve started talking with a group of people and then the inevitable question comes up:
“So what do you do Scott?”
I’m an entrepreneur.
“Oh really, well what are you working on?”
It’s an advanced online forum for citizens to engage in political debate and network worldwide. Think of it as a personal soapbox, but with a focus on empowering people.
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