Abstract:

MySpace has it - Ning and Meetup don’t; AOL had it once, but now Google’s the alpha dog; iTunes got it right - Rhapsody didn’t; Microsoft gets it too late. ‘It’ is the ‘revolution’—the new new thing, the latest wrinkle. In the attention economy, every new idea wants to be the next fad. Many are called, but few are chosen. If you knew everything about tomorrow, what would you do differently?


This talk traces the common ingredients in successful network recipes—from rails and power in the 19th century to social networks in the 21st. Brailling the culture, we seek those special, super-sticky ingredients that bind a crowd and virally spawn an idea. The decisive ingredient, today and in the future, is cultural relevance. Culture is the new media - but with feedback loops. Cultural networks are the secret bacchanalia where consumers manipulates marketers and the marketplace through pressure, protest and politics - consumers are mad as hell and want to cut loose again. It is through culture that marketers will reach consumers in the ad-less future now unfolding.




Dr. J. Christopher Westland is Professor and Head of the Information & Decision Sciences Department at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He holds a BA in mathematics and an MBA in accounting, and received his PhD in Computers and Information Systems from the University of Michigan. Dr. Westland has professional experience in the US as a certified public accountant and as a consultant in information services in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Dr Westland is the author of numerous academic papers and of four books: Financial Dynamics (Wiley 2003); Valuing Technology (Wiley 2002); Global Electronic Commerce (MIT Press 2000); and Global Innovation Strategy (Palgrave Macmillan 2007) which will appear this summer. He has served on the editorial boards of Management Science, ISR, IJEC, SSRN, and other scholarly journals, and has served on the faculties at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, University of Michigan, University of Southern California, Tsinghua University, Nanyang Technological University, and other academic institutions. Dr Westland is a sought after speaker and consultant who has advised on valuation and technology strategy for Microsoft, Intel, Motorola, V-Tech, Aerospace Corporation, IBM, Pacific Bell, and other technology firms.