1. Pioneers of Digital
“Celebrating the People Behind the
Pixels”

2. @MelCarson

3. @MelCarson
Then….

4. @MelCarson
Now….

5. @MelCarson

6. @MelCarson

7. @MelCarson

8. @MelCarson
Qi LU

9. @MelCarson
Bold & Audacious
‘There’s a certain ability for him to set a bold,
audacious goal without yelling about it and you feel
as though he’s thought it all through and has
answers for any objections.’
Stefan Weitz – Bing Evangelist

10. @MelCarson
‘Can you work on things that have a greater
impact to make life greater for other people?
Are you able to work with people so you become a
better person every day?
If you can answer yes, that’s a good day.’

11. @MelCarson
Thomas Gensemer
‘When it comes to brands,
especially big traditional
brands…there is this grey
area between
communications & PR.’
‘Technology needs to
support core business
instead of dictating how it
works..’

12. @MelCarson
Four Years On…..

13. @MelCarson
Really That Awesome?

14. @MelCarson

15. @MelCarson
June Cohen
‘Don’t assume you know
what your audience
wants. What works for
other media might not
work online, so survey,
test, learn & optimise.’

16. @MelCarson
Video (R)evolution
‘Different people watch video in different
ways and at different times (so) we released
TED Talks on multiple platforms.
As a podcast on iTunes, streaming video on
TED.com, embeddable player for blogs and
on YouTube. We’ve now extended to mobile
apps, set-top boxes like Roku & Boxee, even
airplane in-flight video systems.’

17. @MelCarson

18. @MelCarson
Vanessa
Fox
‘Vanessa was always a
pioneer in terms of pushing
Google to be more
transparent and to surface
useful data to site owners.’
Matt Cutts - Google

19. @MelCarson
…….an experiment that will either fail
miserably, or succeed beyond our wildest
dreams, in making the web better for
webmasters and users alike.
Shiva Shivakumar in 2005
Leap of
Faith

20. @MelCarson
Value Exchange
‘Spend time with colleagues & partners in
different departments. Really try to
understand what they do and how to speak
their language. It’ll help when it comes to
communicating ideas and having an empathy
with their thinking.’

21. @MelCarson

22. @MelCarson

23. @MelCarson
Jaron
Lanier

24. @MelCarson
Lawnmower Man
&
Minority Report

25. @MelCarson
Beware
the
Cybernetic
Totalist

26. @MelCarson

27. @MelCarson
Coming Soon…

28. @MelCarson

29. @MelCarson
Disney
MagicBands

30. @MelCarson
‘There is no such
thing as passive
perception. Young
people today will
remember our
media as quaint,
cute but not quite
fully engaged.’
On
Advertising…

31. @MelCarson
Gurbaksh
Chahal

32. @MelCarson
Originality Anyone?
‘If you want to disrupt the market, don’t
necessarily do something brand new. See what
people are already doing.
Once you’ve scaled that, incorporate what you
want to bring that’s new. You need traction on
what people are already doing – existing
behaviours, existing products.’

33. @MelCarson
Business is Business
‘People just don’t learn.....you have a birth of companies
trying to do what the original dotcom companies
did.....with staggering valuations but no idea how to
generate revenue, let alone profit.
Don’t get carried away thinking that, because it’s
online, it’s different from any other business.’

34. @MelCarson
Jeff Bezos
"It's very important not to be hermetically sealed.
You want to look at it and say, 'That's very
interesting. What can we be inspired to do as a
result of that?' And then put your own unique twist
on it."

35. @MelCarson
Avinash Kaushik
‘There is a lack of
imagination when it
comes to doing
glorious things. We
need to truly
embrace digital in
creative ways and
embrace digital’s
new rules.’

36. @MelCarson
Occam’s Razor
‘I formed this mantra, and then I
practiced blogging for a month and a
half where only my wife and my Intuit
employees read the blog, because I
wanted to see that I could actually
produce content that was incredible,
relevant and of value.’

37. @MelCarson
“And my first question to them was, ‘What would I
do here?’ And they said, ‘We don’t know.’ They said,
‘You just come and work here, and we’ll figure it
out.’ And I said, ‘Oh you’re kidding me!’’

38. @MelCarson
Stephen
Fry‘There are people
so needy, so
desperate, so
mentally
codependent on me
that it is a real
worry that if I don’t
pat them on the
head at least once
a day………’

39. @MelCarson
‘Ok. This is now mad. I am stuck in a lift on the 26th floor of
Centre Point. Hell’s teeth. We could be here for hours. Arse,
poo & widdle’

40. @MelCarson
‘You have to love it. You
absolutely have to love it.
Just enjoy the ride, enjoy
the creativity that it gives
you.
What you've got to be
driven by is what f**king
fun and how unbelievably
exciting it is.’
Be You…….and Enjoy
It!

41. @MelCarson

42. @MelCarson

43. @MelCarson
Pioneering DNA
y Don’t let technology dictate
y Challenge creativity
y Make things that satisfy needs
y Take decisions in real time
y Don’t have to be original, just
relevant
y Have fun!

44. @MelCarson
Reaction
"Pioneers of Digital makes for
compelling reading about fascinating
innovators. Their curiosity, passion, drive
and enthusiasm for using technology in
creative ways to help people connect and
interact is both contagious and
inspirational." USA Today
"If you embrace new media and the
spell it has cast over advertising and
the world in general, this may be
your lucky day. Readers will feel
like kids in a digital candy shop."
Publishers Weekly
"These very insightful stories are perfect for those fascinated by the
history of digital.“
Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP

45. Thank You!
www.PioneersOfDigital.com
Mel@DelightfulCommunications.com