James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Earlier this year, one of my favourite US business magazines, Fast Company, made the following observation:

Win or lose, Barack’s rise reveals a new reality in the marketplace.

The fact that Obama has taken what we thought we knew about politics and turned it into a different game for a different generation is no longer news.

What Obama’s success says about business is the far more interesting story.

But first, what has the 47 year-old President-Elect pledged for the economy…

1. Tax cuts (Individuals): Immediate tax cuts ($500 for individuals, $500 for families) for households making less than $25,000 and for retired senior citizens making up to $50,000.
2. Tax cuts (Businesses): Eliminate capital gains taxes on small and start-up business investments, In 2009 and 2010, give businesses a $3,000 income tax credit for each new employee they hire above their current work force.
3. Job creation: Invest $25bn to repair roads and bridges and to make schools energy efficient. Double loan guarantees for automakers to $50bn.

What does this mean?

Quite simply, his pledges are about putting more money back into the market, so that punters will start spending again and, hopefully, jump start the economy.

It’s not rocket science.

Cutting taxes is a safe bet. Spending on capital works also has a proven heritage.

While eliminating capital gains for some business activities and creating incentives to hire new staff is genuinely inspired (bring it on!), what will be more interesting to watch is the potential effect that ‘Brand Obama’ will have on the US psychology.

Politics, after all, is about marketing.

It’s about projecting and selling an image, stoking aspirations, moving people to identify, evangelise and, of course, consume.

Will brand Obama inject optimism into the market? Is his way of doing things a wake-up call for business - get authentic or take a hike? Are his movements genuine signals for marketers, including those in Australia?

It seems that any forward-thinking business would be wise to examine the implications of his ascent, from his inclusive approach to leadership to the social networking tools his campaign used to raise funds, populate events and, ultimately, win votes.

I’ll leave the last word to Fast Company:

The promotion of the brand called Obama is a case study of where the American marketplace - and potentially, the global one - is moving.

His openness to the way consumers today communicate with one another, his recognition for the desire of ‘authentic’ products and his understanding of the need for a new global image - are all valuable signals for marketers everywhere.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

As you all well know, Anthill Magazine is committed to building a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in Australia.

Our readers probably know better than most that the majority of Australian businesses don’t get innovation. As a nation we are facing new challenges. New ideas are needed.

But only 34 percent of Australian businesses pursue innovation. There’s no doubt about it, for Australia to remain competitive more businesses must innovate.

That’s why Anthill is backing a new initiative called (re)innovate challenge.

(re)innovate challenge is a national business planning challenge developed to inspire businesses and teach them how to innovate. Over five months, these teams will receive extensive training to turn their ideas into viable business plans.

To spice things up (re)innovate challenge culminates in state-level awards and national-level prizes in the middle of 2009.

In short, (re)innovate challenge is a five month program designed to…

• Teach companies “how to” innovate.
• Over this time, ideas will be developed into business plans, creating spin-offs, efficiencies and a ‘can do’ culture in participating organisations.
• At a cost of $1,650 per team, (re)innovate offers on online program, concluding with state and industry prizes and awards.

Throughout the five months, each team will have access to forums, training manuals and video lessons to assist in every stage of bringing an innovative idea into reality – all this is done via the internet so becoming a part of (re)innovate challenge enables teams to work on this in their own time. 

Go to http://www.reinnovate.com.au/information/timeline for the (re)innovate challenge timeline. If you’re the CEO or HR manager, get your company behind this initiative. The goal is to make innovation just a natural part of the employee development mix and make Australia’s innovation capacity absolutely explode!

Plus, your employees might just develop the next big thing.

Teams representing Australian businesses are currently entering their ideas. 

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Scattered throughout the latest edition of Anthill you may notice a series of black and white boxes.

No, they are not crosswords on crack. Rather, Anthill has partnered with QMCODES to create one of Australia’s first ‘Interactive Print’ magazines.

What does this mean?

Always the early-adopter, Anthill is giving you, our readers, the opportunity to download extended articles, podcasts, vodcasts and other items of rich multimedia content directly from our print magazine onto your mobile phone.

  >>>>>>>>>> 

For example…

The story on Dominic Carosa on page 96 is supported by a podcast that can be downloaded directly from the magazine to your mobile phone.

The article about angel investor Jordan Green on page 31 is supported by an extended article, which also can be downloaded to a mobile phone.

The story about the Cool Company Awards on page 39 is accompanied by the vodcast (above).

Next time you stumble across one of these unique barcodes (above) in Anthill Magazine - or on a billboard, on clothing, anywhere - take a snap of the image using your mobile phone to reveal additional content.

We promise that you’ll be seeing a lot more of these strange squares, called QR Codes (Quick Response Codes), in all areas of your waking life.

They’re already so prolific in Japan that school kids are now sporting T-shirts that link to their own personal websites. Japanese pensioners are using them to check out when their bus is coming by scanning the code next to the timetable.

They are now even available on McDonalds’ packaging in if you want to know the nutritional value of a Big Mac!

Of course, Anthill Magazine (along with our advertisers) will be adding new features built around QMCODES’ technology that will allow you to post comments, participate in polls and share articles with friends, simply by using your humble mobile.

What now? All you need is a 3G internet enabled phone with a camera and a data plan.

As an added incentive to try out QR Codes (as if you needed any), text the word ANTHILL to 0429 883 688, download the barcode reader, tell us in 25 words or less how you would use QR Codes in your business and you could win a very stylish 16GB iPod touch. So, go get scanning!

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

If you missed out on nominating your own organisation (or another ‘cool’ company) for Anthill’s 3rd Annual Cool Company Awards, don’t slap your forehead in dismay. Click here instead. We’ve responded to your requests (your demands, your pleas) and extended the application deadline until this Thursday 7 August 2008 (two days away).

In the meantime, we’ve downloaded some overview statistics about the companies that have completed applications so far.

So, who has entered Anthill’s 3rd Annual Cool Company Awards?

Largely, they are private enterprises (no surprises there). The majority have one to 50 shareholders. Only 45% have a board of directors and 36% plan to exit through a trade sale. A surprising 28% have no exit strategy at all.

Of our ‘cool’ company founders, 54% are male, 24% are female. The rest have more than one founder. Forty is the most common age for starting a ‘cool’ company. The slim majority (53%) relied on personal savings to start their businesses.

The most popular award category is the Innovation Award, followed closely by X-Factor and Online Business (clearly, our ‘call-to-action’ had its intended effect). The most poorly represented category is the Big Kahuna Award, not because big companies aren’t ‘cool’ but I suspect the outcome simply comes from the fact that there are less of ‘em.

So, will this blog post help those companies thinking of entering? Or frustrate those that have already completed the application form? Probably neither. But there’s always something intriguing about statistics, even if they can only ever tell us part of the story. To get the full picture, you might just have to wait until October.

Until next time, best of luck to all you ‘cool’ Anthillians!

The winners of the 3rd Annual Cool Company Awards will be announced at a Gala Awards Ceremony, to be held at the Melbourne headquarters of Primary Sponsor PricewaterhouseCoopers in September. The full outcomes will be published in the Oct/Nov edition of Anthill Magazine, available in the first week of October. Companies wishing to enter the 2008 Cool Company Awards can do so by clicking here.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

We have fifty ‘R’ rated DVDs to give away.

But it’s not what you think.

‘The Man Who Souled the World’ is an award-winning documentary about Steve Rocco, pro-skateboarder turned disruptive entrepreneur and skate industry leader.

Rocco’s first finance came from a loan-shark. Not only did he stand to lose his shirt from his first entrepreneurial venture, he also stood to lose his knee-caps.

His first ‘reseller’ channel was the infamous Z-Boys. Why hire resellers when you can create multiple companies with pro-skaters as major shareholders and brand advocates?

His first scalps were the established industry leaders. When a prominent skate magazine refused to run his ads for being too provocative, he launched a rival magazine, sending the incumbent into insolvency.

Throughout the 1980s, Rocco used pornography, blasphemy, propaganda and truly anarchic business strategies to create World Industries, which has grown into one of the largest and most influential skateboard companies in the world.

When I watched ‘The Man Who Souled the World’ for the first time, I thought, ‘I’ve got to get this DVD into the hands of our readers!’

It could be because I’m ‘into’ skateboarding (even if I my Element deck hasn’t left the boot of my car since I gave myself a prolapsed disc earlier this year).

It could be because Rocco naturally embodies some of the anarchic personality of Anthill Magazine. (We sometimes describe our creative process as ‘organised chaos’.)

It could be because Rocco successfully reinvented an established industry sector, simply because he was dissatisfied with the status quo (an attitude that we also empathise with).

But I think my excitement for this documentary mainly comes from it’s simplicity as a real, contemporary David versus Goliath tale re-visited.

After enthusiastically lobbying its Australian distribution company, Mad Man Entertainment (who we covered in 2005 as a very Anthillian organisation), fifty copies arrived at our office door… for a price.

I won’t say what that price was but the discount rate was, indeed, very generous, enough to allow me to make the following two offers:

• One: If you are NOT a current subscriber to Anthill Magazine… Click here and when prompted insert the ‘promotional code’ SKATE2008. You’ll score a 12-month subscription to Anthill for only $34.95 and get this DVD for free, delivered to your door. (This offer only works if you subscribe online)

• Two: If you are already a subscriber…. Call 1300 760 373 and cite the ‘promotional code’ SKATE2009. We’ll extend your current subscription for another 12-months for only $29.95 and also send you the DVD for no extra cost, delivered to your door. (This offer only works if you call 1300 760 373).

So, OK. I’m sorry that it’s not a completely free DVD on offer. But we only have 50 copies and we also need you to use your credit card because ‘The Man Who Souled the World’ has an ‘R’ rating (not a completely fool-proof strategy but we figure that, if you’re a minor with plastic, this DVD will be the least harmful thing that you’ve already discovered on the internet).

It’s not often that we spruik our own wares through the blog. In fact, it’s our first time. So, I hope that you don’t mind this departure from the norm.

But I must make the following warning… This ‘R’ rated DVD is not for everyone.

If inspiring and provocative business documentaries push your buttons, this modern-day story of David and Goliath re-loaded will put a smile on your dial. If business strategies and marketing campaigns that really push the boundaries of convention make you feel uneasy, perhaps wait until our next offer comes up (I’m sure we’ll have something a little safer, but equally inspiring, available soon).

In coming weeks, we’ll be giving readers the opportunity to be among the first people in the world to road test a new Google Service (very exciting, indeed) and we’ll also be extending our Magazine 2.0 experiment (another magazine first). Also, we’ll be extending the way you can interact with Anthill by introducing QR Codes to our technology mix.

In short, there’s never been a better time to subscribe or renew your subscription. So, if this interests you, don’t mess around. We only have 50 copies of my second favourite business DVD (first in, first served).

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

To celebrate the Atlantic’s current issue with the thought provoking cover story, “Is Google Making Us Stoopid?”, the publishers of Australian current affairs periodical The Monthly are sending their friends from across the pond an online gift subscription.

This ‘gift’ includes access to the Monthly archive and Gideon Haigh’s award-winning essay published in February 2006, “How Google is Making Us Stupid.”

Yes, it’s another fracas between magazine publishers.

At Anthill, we haven’t been so outraged since SmartCompany.com.au decided to run an article titled ‘30 hot entrepreneurs aged 30 and under’ just 10 days before the long-publicised release of Anthill’s inaugural 30under30 awards.

Or since Dynamic Business ran its ‘Disaster Strikes’ cover two months after Anthill’s highly successful and trend-breaking ‘Disaster Edition.’

Or since Fast Thinking decided to launch in Australia because Australia didn’t have a magazine dedicated to innovation (What the!?).

Actually, I’m not outraged at all. I’m not outraged about the Atlantic article or my spurious accusations above (although I did gain personal pleasure from airing them).

No. Personally, I’m just proud that an Australian organisation is creating debate around the world. And I’m flattered that our ideas are entering the ‘zeitgeist’ and finding traction elsewhere.

Fortunately, the list of examples and controversial claims above also serve my purpose, by not-so serendipitously leading me back to the opening question.

If new technologies are making it easier for anyone to uncover and apply the ideas of others from around the globe, if Google is providing us with the answer to almost any question we can ask, if technology is overcoming the need to think cognitively or make personal deductions… is Google making us dumb?

The debate is obviously more complex than that.

Atlantic contributor Nicholas Carr makes the observation that, because media are not just passive channels of information, because they supply the stuff of thought, they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away at our capacity for concentration and contemplation.

“My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski,” he says.

At least, I think that was his main bone. I was too busy checking out a link on sea-turtles.

The Monthly’s Haig seems to be more upset at the effectiveness of Google as a tool for plagiarism and its ability to effectively convey misinformation.

Ultimately, a good angle is a memorable angle, just as surely as a good idea is infectious. And it’s impossible to prevent a good angle/idea from turning viral.

Personally, I doubt that any concept, cover story or angle that has appeared in any magazine, including Anthill, has ever been truly original, untouched by outside forces, and Google is not to blame. Quite simply, an idea can’t percolate in a vacuum (and all publishers rely on cultural mores, means and schemas to connect with our readers).

This statement includes the examples given above (from Google’s effect to business disasters and apple motifs). Yes, it might shock and amaze, but Anthill was not the first to focus on disasters, use apples on our cover or write about innovation.

The challenge is making sure that new thinkers understand the distinction between plagiarism and the proper means of sharing ideas - giving credit where credit’s due.

Is Google making us dumb? I suspect that Carr is right in one sense. It is changing the way we think and analyse information, but possibly it’s doing so in a way that’s no different to the effect the mass production of books had on the way we reason and communicate.

In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates bemoaned the development of writing. He feared that, as people came to rely on the written word as a substitute for the knowledge they used to carry inside their heads, they would, in the words of one of the dialogue’s characters, “cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful.”

Fortunately, I don’t need to be scholar in Greek history to know this tid bit of information. I just applied an example provided by Carr, verbatim (I plagiarised with credit, or is that an oxymoron?).

Like writing, books and libraries, Google and other search engines (and the web) are opening us up to perspectives and experiences, many of which were previously inaccessible and impossible to share cheaply .

So, to mashup an old quote with a new setting (searched and found using Google, edited and manipulated using my wee, human brain)…

If we can all see further from the shoulders of giants, I’m just grateful for the comfy perch, steering system and dashboard that search engines have provided.

And I, for one, feel smarter for it.

*UPDATE: It seems that the battle of “similar” ideas is not confined to print publications, with Channel Seven now being accused of ripping off an Apple iPod TVC with its new TiVo promotions. Seven’s riposte? “There’s no copyright in an idea.”

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

I think that the next step in this fun form of activism should be for Anthill to send the nice receptionist in Minister Tanner’s office a big, fat bunch of flowers. She deserves it!

According to independent online media service Scopical, the Minister’s media advisers were quick to downplay the phone-in: “I wouldn’t say it was particularly large… it’s probably under one hundred.”

Wait a minute!

Our team of bespectacled mathematicians at the ‘Anthill Institute’ (imagine pristine white laboratories and multiple security passes… or me, in convalescing state, with calculator in hand) has done the numbers and…

That’s up to 16 calls every hour.

Or…

One call every four minutes!

The tight-lipped nature of the response (a pre-prepared comment, at the ready) and obvious awareness of ‘the cause’ suggest to me that an impression was made. I too would be doing me best to avoid media follow-up.

According to the same spokesperson…

“The caller’s names have all been recorded and they will be sent to the Minister, and he will review it.”

That’s a good start.

But, while organising our big, bouquet for the Minister’s lovely and ever-courteous receptionist, I also plan to find a company that delivers nuts. Not cashews. Not almonds. No, I’ll be sending a package that says:

“The scrapping of Commercial Ready was JUST PLAIN NUTS!”

I have prepared a letter that I invite readers to download, stick on company letter head and send to the Minister. If you’re feeling really adventurous, also send some nuts. (Heh heh.)

If you don’t have a lot of time, I have set up an easy email link with a pre-drafted email.

Click the link and a pre-drafted letter/email will appear.

Make sure that you take advantage of this easy tool we’ve set up before you go home today. Follow-up is important.

Lastly… Did we make a difference? Honestly, I don’t know.

My natural belief is that activism is good. It’s a necessary part of our system (because elected officials and their staff aren’t always right). And for those who took part yesterday, you’ll also know… it feels good too!

While some of you might be tiring of ‘Anthill Activism’ (Antivism?), others are just getting revved up. As such, I’ve decided to create the ‘Anthill Army’. (This brand of ours knows no bounds!)

If you want to take part further or be invited to join us in other activities with political purpose, click here and fill out the form.

And, of course, please post your experiences, thoughts and suggestions about yesterday and the future below.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Could we be about to create Australia’s first reader-generated magazine article?

Probably not.

Many magazine articles are already written by readers.

But! We might be the first Australian magazine to produce a magazine article as a group.

Here’s what I’m proposing…

Over the next few weeks, I had (emphasis on ‘had’) intended to call on experts from a range of fields to help prepare an article on all the many small but necessary steps a startup company must take in order to stage a successful launch.

I had envisaged a title something akin to, “The 168 Steps to Launching a Successful Startup in Australia.” (Or “The 16 Steps…,” if time got the better of me.)

But, of course, while reading through some of the many erudite, informed, intelligent, articulate, whimsical and witty comments that have recently appeared on the Anthill blog, it suddenly occurred to me…

That would be silly!

I already have my experts.

You!

As such, if you’re interested, we’d like you, Anthill readers, to put forward whatever steps, any steps, you can think of that are integral to the formation of a company.

For example…

Purchase a URL
Register for an ABN
Decide which business structure is best for you
Purchase a shelf company (limited by shares)

You get the idea (too easy).

Perhaps contribute a step that really saved your bacon? Or a step you didn’t take but wish you had?

In return, we’ll publish your name and company URL next to your contribution (and you’ll be helping to educate fellow business owners).

If you are a professional adviser, we’re also inviting you too to apply your knowledge here. If your comments are used in the article, we’ll also publish your name right next to these inspired words of wisdom.

No step is too basic. No step is too banal. If you have a step, we want to hear it.

For the sake of clarity and consistency, there will, of course, be some ground rules.

1. Name your step. Explain why that step is important. Try to explain how to take that step. And don’t forget to provide helpful advice.

2. While doing all that, don’t yabber on. Try to explain your step and provide advice in less than 60 words. While we haven’t set a strict word limit for this exercise, the average A4 magazine page holds 600 words. (Think about it.)

3. No gratuitous self-promotion, please. If you’re an expert or entrepreneur keen to get your name in print, just remember this: People will look you up if you say smart stuff. Not because you managed to use your company name five times in 60 words.

4. When posting your comment use the exact name that you wish to see published and the URL of the company that you wish to see published next to that name.

5. If two people run the same or similar step, we’ll choose the one best suited to our purposes or we’ll combine the two and attribute the step to co-authors, with two names and two URLs (See Ground Rule #6 below, regarding sub-editing).

6. We’ll be deeming your participation in this exercise as consent for us to use your comments for publication, permission for us to sub-edit as required and as a demonstration that you have agreed to our T&Cs (click here).

Lastly, if this is a big flop, we make no promises. But, of course, the worst case scenario is that you will have helped educate and inform other readers of this blog. (A worthy cause.)

Tap away, Anthillians! Left-of-field suggestions are welcome, too.

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Rumours of my spinal injury have been greatly exaggerated.

Well…. Not really.

When you see the words ‘potential impotence’ among the risks of surgery, you know that things are about to get serious (a state of mind I’ve never been fond of).

Fortunately, the risks have passed. And in my convalescent state, I’ve had plenty of time to brood. It will still be some weeks before I’m no longer home-bound but that won’t prevent me from finishing what we (you and me, my friends) have started.

At the end of this month, the extended period of the Innovation Review will come to its conclusion. That doesn’t leave much time to get a clear and helpful message across.

Below are just some of the interesting comments left in response to my post two weeks ago:

Allan Aaron said:
“It’s imperative that anyone with an interest in seeing this situation redressed makes a strenuous argument to the national innovation review at innovationreview@innovation.gov.au and, of course, to their government representatives.”

Tim said:
“Perhaps James or Chris could offer a place where participants could contribute their thoughts.”

Paul Cheever said:
“I now want to prepare and distribute across the governments and the Panel a profile of active venture interests stories.”

Liesl asked:
“If we want to take an active role in lobbying government, and show quantifiable national benefit of the grants, and the loss to the country of CR dying, where should we make a noise?”

After reading these blog comments, while stuck at the Epworth, I had a number of epiphanies. (Thank the good soul who invented Morphine. Hopefully, not another Commercial Ready casualty).

Epiphany #1… Hassle the Hasslers

Anthill’s proactive stance would not have take shape unless our readers had hassled us first. Of course, we were naturally dismayed at the scrapping of CR. We have encouraged and promoted many, many CR success stories in our brief history.

But it was not until you, our readers, asked us to take a stand that we began to review our options.

So… it seems sensible to bring this matter to the people and outlets (other media) that can further emphasise the need for CR or a CR alternative to the decision makers and the broader public.

Here’s my first test suggestion…

Text Q&A en masse.

Q&A is an ABC Television program that brings together political leaders and asks viewers to text their questions. We now have over 200 people who have registered to use SMS as a tool for a ‘flash protest’. Why not unleash the power of 200 on the ABC and see what happens?

If successful, I propose that we hit Sunrise (K Rudd has a weekly spot), then talk-back radio. Maybe even The Seven-Thirty Report?

Readers, I’ll need your help.

Please tell me if you think this is a good idea (or have I simply exceeded my prescribed dose of painkillers for the day?). If so, I’ll SMS the number to text and a sample message. (Perhaps you can let me know what you think a helpful question might be?) Also, what radio and television programs feature our political leaders in your neck of the woods? (I hung up my PR hat many moons ago.)

In short…

1. Is this a good idea?
2. What’s a good message or question?
3. What other outlets should we take our message to?

Epiphany #2… Make our anxiety known to the political decision makers

On this issue, many a buck has been passed.

I don’t want to name names, but… Oh heck…

According to various newspaper reports and comments made publicly during speeches (and a virtual sack of email messages to Anthill), the following two political representatives have voiced disappointment at the scrapping of Commercial Ready.

• Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
• Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

However, if you ask who is to ‘blame’, it seems that the trail invariably leads back to a bunch of faceless number-crunchers in Finance (Lindsay Tanner’s portfolio).

• The Hon Lindsay Tanner MP, Minister for Finance and Deregulation.

But! I personally elect my officials to make decisions. Yet, I cannot find an official happy to concede that this decision was made under his/her mandate of responsibility.

Here’s my second test suggestion…

Phone or mail each of the leaders’ branch offices.

Once again, en masse, on a prescribed day (announced by SMS). If you deem this suggestion a good one, we’ll text the numbers. All we’ll need from you is to open the text and hit the call button twice. Most mobile phones will do the rest. We can also send a sample message (or, once again, please make any suggestions you like below).

Unfortunately, this second suggestion requires that we make a pest of ourselves, which can be counter-productive. That’s why I’m suggesting branch offices. Each branch office takes a log of calls, which carry through to the elected representative and their advisers. A call is more powerful than an email (email lost its currency as a political tool when it became too easy to tap and send).

It’s easy to imagine that 200 phone calls in one eight-hour day (that’s 25 calls an hour) would be enough to make an impression without forcing the cogs of political branch-office politics to grind to a halt.

But if anyone has a better idea, we’re all eyes and ears. Maybe a template Letter that can be downloaded and sent via snail mail would be a more effective idea? After all, they say a letter is worth 10,000 constituents.

In short…

1. Is this a good idea?
2. What’s a good message or question?
3. Are there others that we should be contacting as well or instead?

Epiphany #3… Make all this count

The sad truth is that cancelled programs rarely, if ever, get reinstated. They are more likely to be resurrected in a different form or not at all.

This is partly because politicians are extremely reluctant to ‘back-flip’ on a decision (as any opposition will describe a public change in position, no matter how sensible, as just that: a back-flip).

So… while all these activities will demonstrate that a CR alternative is necessary (and that the electorate is unhappy and watching), positive suggestions are required, preferably ideas that are not simply opportunistic (like many of the 630 submissions to the Review already received).

Applications for the Innovation Review officially ended in May, but ‘unofficially’ the Review has indicated that it is prepared to accept late submissions of high importance.

Please do as Allan Aaron suggests above and mail ideas and suggestions to the National Innovation Review at innovationreview@innovation.gov.au and, of course, to your government representatives.

At Anthill, we will be packaging up all your comments from my previous post and submitting them to the PTBs (powers-that-be). We also recommend that you visit the Review website to check out the suggestions of others.

Last words…

If CR is unlikely to get a reprieve, why should we do this?

Firstly, because despite the ‘efforts’ at engagement (Forums, Submissions etc), which were based on genuinely good intentions by a group of smart and well-meaning people, the whole process, nevertheless, still stinks of an innovation system that is no longer innovative (in my humble opinion).

Forums and Submissions attract opportunism of the worst kind. Who else wants to spend hours in a town hall? Or weeks devising a submission except people with something to gain? This is something that I’ve climbed on my old soapbox about before (“Did you get your say at Senator Carr’s Innovation Review?”).

Secondly, while the Panel is made up of some of the smartest innovation experts Australia has produced, the members also only represent representatives of the baby-boom generation.

Yet, the technologies now available to drive real collaboration and engagement are largely created, driven and preferred by the people who have the most vested interest in a nation with robust innovation capabilities – Gen X and Gen Y.

Finally, not everyone has the luxury of being able to lie at home, writing blog posts and making cracks about prescription medicines (or fighting for innovation in Australia). And it would burn my soul not to use this opportunity (the scrapping of CR) to rouse interest in this debate and put innovation in the hands of the innovators.

If you think any suggestions seem too demanding, off-track or unlikely to engender an appropriate response (or your involvement), please let me know. In return, I’ll try to keep things as simple as possible (via SMS).

What say you, Anthillians? Is this the way forward or am I quietly turning into a crack-pot recalcitrant, going insane with only soft-toys, Tremazapan and my laptop for company?

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Have you ever heard of a ‘flash protest’? It’s similar to a ‘flash mob,’ where a group engages in seemingly spontaneous but actually synchronised behaviour.

The concept has been attributed to Bill Wasik, an editor at Harper’s Magazine, initially as a kind of street performance. Popular examples of the ‘flash mob’ concept involve getting dozens of people to perch on a ledge stone in Central Park (all making bird noises), a ‘zombie walk’ in San Francisco and an incident where over 100 people ‘froze’ perfectly still in New York’s Grand Central Station for one minute.

But it can also be used for political purposes. Let me give you an example…

Not so long ago, a small group of Belorussian citizens decided to stage a protest against the autocratic President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. The country had cut loose from the USSR after the collapse of European Communism. While many former Soviet states embraced the democratic process, Belarus retained a state-run economy and a President reluctant to give up his own brand of unchecked power.

So, what would you do if you were part of a small group eager to bring about political change in a state-run country like Belarus?

Option A: Stage an angry protest, with placards and organised chanting, where you would most probably be arrested during the planning phase, before even the first slogan could be shouted.

Option B: Stage a ‘flash mob’ by inviting participants through email and SMS to ’spontaneously’ show up at a public location and join other disenfranchised citizens in the act of eating… wait for it… ice-cream!

The second option is exactly what happened in Belarus in May 2007, soon followed by a mass ‘reading’ protest, and later a mass ’smiling’ protest. The two main benefits are obvious: 1) The plan cannot be ‘thwarted’ by the establishment due to the viral and instantaneous nature of new communication technologies; and, 2) It’s hard to arrest someone for eating ice-cream, reading or smiling without attracting international condemnation.

Of course, there’s also nothing more liberating (and nothing more politically destabilising to an autocratic state) than the public’s realisation that other’s are equally dissatisfied with the status quo.

Back to Commercial Ready…

According to the AFR, on 19 May 2008, at least 220 aspiring technology entrepreneurs were caught in the surprise axing of the four-year $700 million Commercial Ready program in the federal budget.

For a full grants overview (the good, the bad and the ugly), click here.

These people had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively on their applications, and were offered little more than a letter explaining what other funding programs they might be eligible for.

However, according to many industry pundits, the closure of this program also has significant longer-term implications for innovation in Australia.

As reported by Slattery’s Watch, Ian Birks, CEO of AIIA, recently stated: “SME innovation and growth is a critical component of Australia’s aspirations in the information economy… and we cannot afford to fall behind in these areas.” While TVP General Partner Mike Zimmerman commented that he believes the death of Commercial Ready “will be an enormous blow to SMEs in the ICT sector… Many of the industry’s successful start-ups (and their investors) had seen the CR grant as THE critical government program supporting innovation.”

And from Perth-based venture capital investor Matt Callahan, published in the AFR: “Wow - that is probably the biggest damaging stake into the start-up companies’ heart I have ever heard of. I am stunned.”

Anthill also received an alarmingly large number of anonymous and public comments. Hence, this blog post.

So, what’s the plan?

Step #1: Add your comments below. Is there a genuine complaint to be made? If so, where should this complaint be directed? Your feelings, thoughts, opinions and suggestions will shape our actions.

Step #2: Join us in the first stage of a ‘flash protest’. You won’t be required to go anywhere or do anything complicated - just make a phone call when prompted by SMS.

To leave your mobile number and join the ‘flash protest’, click here. (Of course, we won’t pass on your private details to anyone else. This is all about activism! The power’s in your hands.)

Step #3: Forward this blog post to everyone you know who will be detrimentally affected by the scrapping of Commercial Ready (and anyone you know who is likely to feel strongly about the impact it’s closure will have on Australian innovation).

Step #4: Wait. Over the next five days, we’ll form a plan based on your comments and suggestions and the volume of responses we receive, and then alert you via SMS (see Step #2).

Here’s our ‘out’ clause…

If this ‘call-to-action’ fails to generate a significant response, we’ll drop the cause and move on. If the Federal Government introduces changes that will circumvent the complaints, we’ll again move on. And lastly, if this begins to get beyond us (we’re a small team at Anthill), we might need to review our position (and get back to work, so the next issue comes out).

Whatever the outcome, we’ll keep you posted, as we’re sure that whatever path we take, the outcome will present an interesting story on the rise of social networking technologies and ‘digital activism’.

What next? Get active, Anthillians.

To join the ‘flash’ protest, click here.

Leave any comments or remarks you might have below.