Bek Hodgson is one of the judges for the ONYAs and will be coming out to New Zealand for the awards ceremony. While here, she’ll also be conducting a Master Class workshop on Entrepreneurial Design. We caught up recently with Bek and asked her a few questions.
Webstock: Tell us about what you’re currently doing and how you got there.
Bek: Currently, I am in semi-stealth mode working on two really exciting new startups here in New York that will be unveiled in the spring. The first is in partnership with Rob Kalin, founder of Etsy, for which we are aggressively harnessing the power of the web to redefine and enhance learning and the exchange of knowledge. The second is a community site I co-founded for writers. This site not only enables writers to promote and connect, but provides tools enabling quick, easy and beautiful publication – both on the web and in print.
The path to get here has been over a decade long adventure – a cocktail of the early-on design bloopers, a traditional design education at Art Center College of Design, working with a host of inspiring startups like Etsy and Blurb, and a fierce dedication to creating purpose-driven solutions that enable multitudes of folks to have a wider reach and potentially greater impact.
Webstock: What makes good design on the web? What makes something great, instead of average?
Bek: For all its complexities, I believe good design on the web simplifies environments and experiences. Understanding the medium, and how it is used, is paramount. It challenges us to say more with less and to make navigating, sharing and collaborating truly intuitive. Making something great, instead of average, means nailing all such things and adding a dose of brilliant execution. Details that delight, language that inspires – revealing unwavering genius.
Webstock: We understand you’re singer/songwriter and avid busker. How long have you been doing that and what are some of your influences?
Bek: I have been writing and performing music since I had the strength to crawl up on my parents piano bench as a toddler. As for influences, I prove the winning odd-ball in this department as my father is the pastor of a church and I was raised on a strict diet of only hymns and worship music. Be that as it may, such influences evidently proved mighty inspirational as hundreds of songs have since sprung from me. I perform by the name Fondly and post random living room and live recordings to fond.ly whenever I get the chance.
As for busking, I find it to be one of my most raw and magical pastimes. I have a great love for adventure and a far greater love for people – so tossing myself into unexpected environments that enables the unlikely to unfold makes me smile. Much like design, music has a profound ability to open unusual paths of communication, to gather diverse groups of people, to heal, encourage and inspire. I look forward to busking in Wellington!
Webstock: As a bonus question, your top five desert island discs, and why?
Bek: Oh goodness – what a task! I will have to race off and get that dose of influence I missed over the last 30 odd years! At least you limited it to a desert island, that certainly tones things down.
Alright. Boldly stated and adored by the admittedly less informed …
Sigur Ros » Ãgætis byrjun
More refreshing than the desert island itself. The perfect awakening.
Bon Iver » For Emma, Forever Ago
Layers of tone, rhythm and harmony. I learn more about design each time I listen.
Neko Case » Live from Austin, TX
Bold and brilliant. Try it with a lime.
Gotan Project » La Revancha del Tango
It just wouldn’t be a desert island without La Revancha del Tango.
The Budos Band » The Budos Band II
They serve it with extra salt.
And a bonus album for your bonus question …
Dark Was The Night (Red Hot Compilation)
Iron & Wine, Cat Power, Beirut, Sufjan Stevens, Arcade Fire, Ben Gibbard, Feist, David Byrne … to name a few. Need I say more?
Webstock: Your workshop here is called, ‘Entrepreneurial Design’. What’s ‘entrepreneurial’ design and what can attendees look forward to at the workshop?
Bek: I credit Liz Danzico, Chair of the MFA in Interaction Design program at SVA here in New York for the title ‘Entrepreneurial Design’. Liz asked me to join the faculty this spring to teach this course which is an invigorating opportunity.
Entrepreneurial Design really encompasses the breath of fundamental decisions that must be made when pursuing a new and unchartered endeavor. It challenges design to step out of it’s traditional roll as service provider and embark on the risky mission to create what has not yet been created. In this workshop, we will be meeting this challenge head on – exploring how to take a great idea and make it a viable reality.
Webstock: You’re also coming to New Zealand as a judge for the ONYAs. What things will you be looking for when judging the sites?
Bek: [Laughs] I will be looking for future partners!
Aside from scoping the New Zealand webscape for my own selfish desires, I will be paying close attention to the execution of visual design and user experience. There is a profound amount of time and energy that gets poured into making something great and I will be looking for evidence of such efforts and thrilled to be one of the resounding voices acknowledging the boldest and brightest outcomes.
Webstock: Thanks Bek! We’re really looking forward to having you and your guitar here in August.
In the final of our sponsor interviews, we talk with John Moore from *experience.
Webstock: *experience is a fairly new company. Tell us about how you got started and what your focus is?
John: Well, like all good Wellington companies we started over a coffee – in our case at the Chocolate Fish Cafe! From our design agency / corporate backgrounds we saw the gap for a specialist online experience company – a company with a brand and communications focus, and the ability to be the neutral bridge between customers, business, and the mysteries of web development.
After that first coffee the brand, name and business plan fell into place and *experience was born in mid-2006. We quickly picked up some great clients – large corporates, government agencies and smaller organisations – and we haven’t stopped since.
So now we’re living the dream – our clients tell us they work with us because we keep them real. We challenge them, we advocate for their customers, we champion their business targets, we translate design and technology to create great online experiences and we have fun! Our team is awesome – they’re experienced, dedicated, and passionate; we continue to work with some of New Zealand’s finest technology houses, and our clients all know how to work our coffee machine – we’re loving it.
Webstock: What’s the importance of someone’s “experience” when they interact with a website? Does it really matter? Aren’t they just trying to do something?
John: Exactly! For us, the “experience is everything  so no matter how you get people to your website, how flash your tv ad is, how flash your flash is, or how big your logo is – if people can’t achieve what they want on your site then… FAIL! That experience becomes your brand, your reputation, your credibility… and it’ll become the dinner story, the blog post, the tweet. So it’s vital that companies get the experience right – and it’s our job to help them do just that.
Webstock: With regard to the “global economic situation” what changes are you expecting to the web and online industry here in the next couple of years?
John: The current global economic situation just means we’ve all got to get smarter. We need to work even harder to get our clients to maximise the new, smarter, leaner, more agile technologies and get their websites working harder – and get them out there in the smartest way possible! (and we’re hoping the term ‘enterprise solution’ will disappear from the online vocabulary too…)
Webstock: *experience is associated with Meg Pickard at Webstock. Why is Meg a good fit with *experience?
John: Miriame and I come from a brand and communications background and (as the rest of our team will tell you!) we’re news junkies too… as such we’ve always admired the Guardian as a publication – it’s always been a leader –in its ‘old media’ form – and now especially in its new media evolution.
So when we saw that Meg was coming out for Webstock we jumped at the chance to be involved! And we love that she describes herself as a ‘Creative geek’ – as slightly geeky creatives, we should be a good match.
Webstock: You’ve both been to every Webstock to date. What brings you back and has attracted you as a sponsor this time?
John: We still remember that day (in our previous lives) when you came to us with a twinkle in your eye and this great idea for a thing called “Webstock  back then we were rapt to help craft the Webstock brand strategy, and this year we were really proud to be able to step up and be sponsors of what is now an awesome, world renowned event.
Why do we keep coming back? We love the Webstock buzz – the world class speakers (yay Meg), the chance to catch up with our mates (that includes all our clients!), to see everyone in our industry, and to watch all the newbies getting involved – magic!
The success of a conference is measured by the amount of ice-cream consumed! And thanks to the folks at DigitalNZ, we’ll have a big supply of Kapiti ice-cream on hand. We recently caught up with Andy Neale from DigitalNZ and asked him a few questions.
Webstock: Tell us about the story behind DigitalNZ and what your aims are?
Andy: So the sound byte for DigitalNZ is that we are helping to make NZ’s digital content easier to find share and use. The gist of this is that there’s heaps of amazing NZ material that people just don’t get to see or find. There are all the old NZ photos, and papers, and posters, and recordings etc. that needs to be digitised. So we are working on how to scale this up. Then there’s the digital material that sits in institutional databases, trapped in the dark web that Google can’t get to. So we are also going in and helping to make that content visible. We then started asking “what’s the point of finding all this amazing NZ material if you can’t do anything with it?”. That’s where our efforts to encourage the release stuff without copyright restrictions, or embrace creative commons comes in. Or heck, maybe just encourage content owners to be clear about what license or restrictions do apply. We could go on… it’s very exciting!
Webstock: DigitalNZ haz APIs. What is it and how can people start to use it? What are some of the possibilities you see with the API being made available?
Andy: We’re currently working with 35 content providers from around NZ to make their digital material more visible. Places like Te Papa and NZ On Screen have let us collect their data, and offer up for developers to access. The sky’s the limit really… we are seeing people working on location-based mashups, iPhone apps, and new tools to get this content into schools. We only launched in December so things are still getting started, but it’s kinda like, what couldn’t you do with such a dataset? We built this custom search engine on top of the APIs to give people a taste of what’s possible.
Webstock: What are some other libraries and cultural institutions doing great things online?
Andy: No surprises in saying that everyone’s been jumping on the social media bandwagon for a few years now. The Brooklyn Museum is planning something called Wikipedia Loves Art where a whole load of volunteers will take photos of materials in museums to illustrate wikipedia articles. Closer to home, Seb and the team at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney are doing some great stuff. Their Fresh + New blog covers a lot of ground in the digital media space. And of course there’s the Commons on Flickr which started with the Library of Congress and now has more than 20 international members.
Webstock: The web team at National Library has certainly embraced the awesomeness of Twitter with a vengeance! What are some of the benefits that a team gains from using Twitter?
Andy: Yeah, it’s funny, we had a Twitter fanatic join the Library last year, and all of a sudden it just took off with a whole bunch of staff. I think mostly it’s about being visible and accessible. Granted it’s still a niche community, but we get so much from following others, and this is a way for others to get value from what we are thinking and doing. Surprisingly, it’s actually also useful when you can ask a question and 15 responses pile in with an answer.
Webstock: What speaker are you most looking forward to seeing at Webstock?
Andy: It would have to be Toby Segaran… aside from all the data-mashary and semantic goodness, he’s originally from Christchurch!
Webstock: We’re sure the Cantabrians reading are applauding that sentiment! And it’s really exciting to see a public organisation look to be open in what it’s doing.
We’re delighted to have the folks from Mukuna on board for Webstock. They’ll be bringing the beats during the conference and after-parties and turning the water into funk. We caught up with Jefe and Lisa from Down the Road, the coolness behind Mukuna.
Webstock: So what is Mukuna and the Mukuna Gig Guide?
Mukuna: The pat answer is that it’s a database of music event listings accessible online, on your web-enabled mobile phone and by SMS return text. It’s also a content syndication system that radio stations, venues and promoters use for updating the gig guides on their sites.
The name comes from a genus of tropical vines, mucuna. The seeds are considered good luck and the flowers are pollinated at night by bats. Grows everywhere, hard to kill.
Another answer is that it’s an itch that we needed to scratch. It’s a project we’ve been thinking about since 2000.
Webstock: How did the two of you meet and end up in New Zealand doing this?
Mukuna: It’s a twisted story, involving a lot of geography, but it goes something like this. Lisa and I met in San Francisco during the dot com boom in the late 90s. We were living in the same part of town, working from home, running with a crew of common friends. For our second or third date we moved to Costa Rica for a year, based on a job posting on Craigslist. Then we went to Chicago for a year, and then to Japan, where, coincidentailly, we both had lived prior to meeting.
Have web skills, will travel. We’re basically migrant field hands, moving with the harvests.
We ended up in NZ because Lisa’s a dual citizen (and I’m like a piece of good luggage). She grew up in Mountain View, California of Kiwi parents–her old man’s been hacking since the early 70s, and tells a great story of how a young Steve Jobs once stopped by their suburban garage for a look-see.
Up until a couple of months ago we’d been based on K Road, Auckland’s last bastion of bohemia, as they say. We moved to Wellington because we wanted to start covering the music scene in this fine town, and figured the best way to do so was to settle in and get amongst it.
Mukuna’s core team is now up to five–two in Wellington, three in Auckland–but the crew extends much larger, and includes radio and club DJs, bands, promoters, venue owners, music critics, professional punters and a few wiley types at the fringe. It’s this network that makes Mukuna what it is. Metcalf’s law in action, you could say.
Webstock: What sort of music can Webstockers expect to hear during the conference?
Mukuna: Nerdcore.
Webstock: Jefe – your five top, all-time, desert island albums?
Webstock: We note the absence of early years Flying Nun and of any Dylan, but commend the eclectic nature of the choices! And look forward to the music. Thanks guys.
We’re pleased to have GOVIS on board as a sponsor as they were instrumental in helping the initial Webstock conference. We talked recently with GOVIS President, Mike Pearson.
Webstock: What is GOVIS? What’s its history and what does it do?
Mike: GOVIS was established in 1992. The catalyst for its formation was a suggestion that government IT managers implement GOSIP (Government Open Systems Interconnectivity Protocols), as a standard for interdepartmental electronic communications. At that time, GCS (Government Computing Service) had been disestablished and there was no co–ordination of IT in Government. Managing IT, particularly in a small department could be a lonely place. GOVIS was a mutual support group, so that IT managers from the Government sector could get together and share knowledge.
GOVIS Inc. exists today, to encourage discussion on IT related topics, to improve the cost effectiveness and use of government IT and to encourage a common approach to open systems. It does this by promoting an environment for the free and frank expression of opinions and exchange of information, promoting and facilitating networking, liaison and cooperation between members through activities such as a website/mailing lists, regular forums and special events, including conferences.
Webstock: The next GOVIS conference is happening in May. What’s the theme of the conference and who are some of the speakers that will appeal to Webstockers?
Mike: GOVIS 2009 will be on 20th-22nd May at the Wellington Town Hall. It is widely recognised as the premier Information and Communication Technologies event for the New Zealand government sector, and is open to anyone.
The theme for the 2009 conference is “User-Centred Government; More than meets the eye”.
The theme is based on the State Services Development Goal milestone that by 2015, New Zealanders will see increased efficiency and effectiveness throughout the State Services, with their experience transformed through technology, to be characterised by practical and personalised service delivery that meets their diverse circumstances.
Keynote speakers include:
W. David Stephenson: A leading e-government (especially transparent government), Web 2.0, and crisis management strategist and theorist. He focuses on ways to directly involve the public in policy and services debate and delivery. http://stephensonstrategies.com/
Tom Steinberg: The founder and director of mySociety, a non-profit, open source organisation that runs many of the best-known democracy websites in the UK. These include the Parliamentary transparency website TheyWorkForYou and the somewhat self-explanatory FixMyStreet.
Elizabeth F Churchill: Takes a human centred approach to design and innovation, and believes that lasting innovations derive from a deep understanding of how technologies are woven into everyday lives. Her work at Yahoo! Research explores the threads of mediated collaboration, mobile connectivity, transmedia technologies, digital archive and memory, and the development of emplaced media. http://elizabethchurchill.com
Nat Torkington: Chair of the O’Reilly Open Source Convention and a former editor for O’Reilly and Associates. He has returned to New Zealand from the USA, and is looking to build networks of open source innovators, entrepreneurs, and emerging technologists in New Zealand. http://nathan.torkington.com/
Stephen Collins: Looks at trends in social media and networking, knowledge work and the knowledge economy and issues of management and leadership, focusing on their respective influences and applicability as we build understanding of the disruptive nature of these tools and the power they place in the hands of consumers and workers. www.acidlabs.org
Fergus Hogarth: The Manager of Information and Knowledge Management in the Department for Families and Communities for the Government of South Australia, responsible for online services, a Geographic Information Systems Unit, two libraries and records management. He maintains a strong interest in how technology is changing the world and especially how it is being used to share, connect and engage. http://www.dfc.sa.gov.au
Preceeding the conference on Tuesday 19 May 2009 there will be a workshop series with several of the keynote speakers. Like the conference, the workshops will be open to anyone.
Webstock: How would you rate the NZ government’s use of the internet and the potential it offers compared to other countries?
Mike: Comparing our government’s use of the Internet with that of governments in other countries, is pretty much meaningless. There’s an underlying false assumption that the social, economic and political context is the same in each country.
The Kiwis Count survey found that the drivers that have the greatest impact on New Zealanders’ satisfaction with public services were completely different from Canadians. The best thing is to ignore the rankings and get on with addressing our specific needs and wants in innovative ways.
Webstock: What are the major online challenges for government departments in the next 5 years?
Mike: When we first started planning GOVIS 2009, we talked about challenges like:
How can we shift to a State Services system that can work flexibly and effectively in networked ways across organisational boundaries?
How can we develop more tailored and personalised services and policies by working innovatively with communities of interest in their design, development and delivery?
In light of the recent Stuff article, “Heat on public sector bosses to cut spending”, I believe the major challenge is a wetware (human) one, i.e. not enough people in this town believe that the current economic climate is an opportunity to drive innovation.
There are plenty of ideas about better ways of doing business or developing new or improved products and services that add value for New Zealanders. We need to debate these ideas, pick the likely winners and get them out in production, ASAP.
Change is not a comfortable process, but if we can cut costs by 25% or increase value by 50%, we should be be rising to the challenge. We have to do it while still raising New Zealanders’ satisfaction with public services.
Webstock: What speaker are you most looking forward to seeing at Webstock?
Mike: This year there’s going to be a lot of activity around Government Information and Data Re-use , so I think a lot of the speakers, like Tom Coates and Adrian Holovaty will be relevant to what we’re doing/thinking.
If I was wearing my “innovation” hat, then I’d say I’m most looking forward to catching up with Jane McGonigal again. Her talk at SXSW gave me a lot of ideas about making your government more fun … she does a cool Solja Boy Dance too. I hope the Webstock organisers are practising, so you can accompany her.
Webstock: Thanks Mike. I think it’s fair to say the chances of the Webstock organisers doing Soulja boy dances on stage are remote! But here’s Jane’s SXSW dance …
Bek Hodgson is one of the judges for the ONYAs and will be coming out to New Zealand for the awards ceremony. While here, she’ll also be conducting a Master Class workshop on Entrepreneurial Design. We caught up recently with Bek and asked her a few questions.