Strategy is often created in boardrooms of strategic management centres. Kissing frogs is a great analogy for some new business opportunities.
In a digital online world there are of course no frogs....

I always claim that online oxygen is so important to me and finding ways of distribution digital products and viewpoints pivotal in my life. Ans so they are. But on the otherhand when by courier the www.qoop.com photo album arrived, with over 1000 of my pictures http://flickr.com/photos/vannispen/, we all noticed the difference immediately. Flipping through a book is definitely something else all together. Over a year of people, trips and travels, view points and so on move along by a flick of the thumb......bringing back all the reflections and emotions of the moments. Great this analogue material!

Given my bigger and bigger proportion of Apple time in computing (initially starting as second trial laptop), I decided to uprgrade the 12 inch Powerbook to the new 15 inch. The 15 inch has a lot more connectivity and a much higher screenresolution and graphics and audio capabilities. In short a business decison. Still I felt sorry parting with the 12 inch, as I got very fond of it, but I know by now that one can only work with so many computers at the same time...

The transfer of data, settings and applications was a wizz, very very smooth and after an hour or so all my applications etc were up and running on the new pwrbook. Wow.

Amsterdam has a lot going in the digital creative arena. Not only are there organisations such as de Waag that create new opportunities in the sector, also major institutions as RAI conferences and exhibitions bring a lot of value to the table given the focus on the TIME sector. One of the discussions today was the development of digital creative entrepreneurs.
Whereas potentially successful entrepreneus are developing for a worldwide audience, very often they have little business experience and might be a little wary of the business community. In corporation with many involved we will try to bring creativity and business together.

In the evening I had an interesting discussion with IPan board members to develop somehting for the digital heroes in The Netherlands.

The preparations for the Dutch Creative Industry Fund are in full swing. Lots of meetings and talks with those in the creative community and those surrounding the 'fund' part.

Last week Roderick and I created the first videopodcast together and www.podfeed.nl played it in a special black G5 Pod webplayer. Now that we have the real thing around, Roderick is quite keen to watch videos on the device. Very clear that portable video will be a big hit, especially combined with an easy to use piece of kit as the iPod.

Much faster then I expected (the email stated another week or so) the new iPod G5 appeared today. In line with the iPod Nano, black is the new white with me and so this Pod is black too. As blogreaders might recall, I had an engraving with the iPod and it reads: "Blognomics, the power of new media'. Very applicable with this new advanced Pod, which will be even more then ever a multimedia powerhouse, now with video too. And indeed, all that is said about it (lighter etc) is true.

E-parliament is one part of three covering the 'e'-readiness of both politics, citizens and government. The other two part are e-government which is meant to increase the transaction capabilities of government in the digital world and the thirs is e-democracy where citizens and politicians e-come together. E-democracy has it own conference shortly and will build on the two other themes.

The trip to Tokyo in June and everything surrounding it, has left me with a strong preference for Japanese food. Not only is it very tasty, it is healthy too. Just a little complicated to cook yourself, but with a little training, it should work out.

With all the new Apple hardware having been introduced, I was intrigued to see it in the real. Therefore Roderick and I set out to the Apple stores in town. Unfortunately none of them had any of the new hardware I was interested in on display or even in stock. So no glimpse of the iPod G5 with video, the iMac with built in iSight nor the new Powerbook with better display and audio capabilities. Roderick enjoyed himself during the trip, so that was at least something.

Good friend Andreas was visiting us yesterday and brought some nice gifts, among which this frosted watch of Axcent, the snazzy Swedish watch brand.

Apparently it took quite some time to get the frostyness right.

On the streaming seminar in HIlversum the sheer volume and growth of streaming was discussed. Millions and Millions of streams are being watch every month, growing at double digit growth rates. Streaming has some issues to overcome and the argument that new p2p solutions developed by the University of Delft will solve most of them. We might know by the end of the year as their software will be released. The conference was eloquently and elegantly hosted by Monique van Dusseldorp, one of the anchor women in The Netherlands on new media.

I met with some interesting people today to discuss the developments in the digital creative sector, both from an academic as well as from a business perspective.

The highlight of the day was though the creation www.podfeed.nl has made to the little blognomics podcast #6/vodcast #1 I made yesterday. It will be great to see this on the actual G5 iPod when it arrives, I cannot wait.

It also proves what will be possible in creation, distribution and consumption of audio and video.....

To see the first Blognomics Vodcast in iTunes feels very good. Of course the content is not that spectacular (talking into the iSight with Roderick) but having gone through the process and succeeding is great. It will be waiting for the iPod G5 that I hope will arrive soon, as the file cannot be moved to a regular iPod as it is not an MP# or AAC file.

The egocaster will have new opportunities knocking, the blog could already be extended with all kinds of media, now the podcast can have video added too. Wtih virtually no skills required, video can be captured, if wanted a little edited, uploaded and then distributed via iTunes. Finally it can be consumend on all kinds of hardware, be it PC or Apples or mobile devices such as the new iPod. The qualitly of 320*240 is not earth shattering, on the other hand, it is decent quality for basic viewing. Of course on the new 5G iPod it will look perfect. Blognomics Podcast # 6 or Vodcast #1 will be around shortly on www.blognomics.nl with a special appearance from Roderick.

Roderick has developed into a favourite photographers model. He would be ideal in low light situations, as he can concentrate very well when being photographed. Time Luca with his new Hasselblad had a good opportunity to take some snappers with good light. We're all keen to see the end result. Given the analogue pattern, we will have to wait a little. The other thing I like to show of on the blog is the little boat I got into the bottle. I raised the 'dad' profile enormously with Roderick as his father got it done so elegantly.

Next to ordering a new video iPod I visited the Capital Day (Kapitaaldag) an investment day for both investors as those seeking investments and the surrounding support and advise community. Actually quite an interesting afternoon. One of the topics on the itinerary was the 'elevator pitch' competition where entrepreneurs got 90 seconds in front of a jury. Most of them did not use the 90 sec's nor mentioned the relevant metrics. In an 'Idols' style snappy jury round some criticism was poured over them. In all amusing and one of them won € 3.000 worth of 'services'.

The new iPod has enhanced capabilities among which video playback. As videodistribution is now also incorporated in iTunes 6 and the production of video has become almost easy, the power of new media will be even further enhanced. Of course this is only the first step in a long way of enhancements, but it is a significant one, where we can see the full chain from production to distribution and consumption integrated in an easy an high quality way.

Today the celebration of five years of Politiek Online was celebrated with drinks and workshop on digital aspects of society, the public sector and politics. Of the many well attended workshops I did one on New Media in communication between citizens and government. I went through the ease and quality of the tools available to the egocaster to provide the online world with thoughts,pictures, audio and video. I also explained some of the issues surrounding the new media and the government. Nice session and interesting audience.

Today one of the advocates of Amsterdam Creative Captial and evangelist for broadband, Willem Kleyn, had his farewell reception. Having done a lot for Amsterdam, Willem will be focussing on Schiphol, another important part of our creative capital.

Today Krijn and I were improving quality. For blognomics podcast #5 we went to www.marcosound.nl, one of the leading creative soundsstudios. The interview with Marco Baay can be found on www.blognomics.nl (Dutch only) were we will be sharing two different files. An unedited file straight from the M-audio Microtrack 2496 and an edited version captured live in the soundstudio. It will be interesting quality hearing no doubt.

I am getting hip at 40. After dozens of years of either white or blue shirts (check for the weekends) I decided to get a little wild with this blue striped or white striped shirt.

Politicians and citizens follow each other on and off line. Following politics off line on the square in The Hague on a beautiful day is of course a treat for all.

Next to filling up the MpP3reporter's Nano with podcast, most of the weekend was in favour of the kids. Visiting the premiere for the new Wallace & Gromit with a green rather then a red carpet was followed by some great time in the park. Probably one of the last sit outside weekends this year. But we said that before too.

The day after the introduction of the Dutch Creative Industry Fund at Ilse's party on the water of Amsteram, I can still enjoy the evening by following the online reporting of the event and offlien by enjoying the Blognomics' podcasts on the new black iPod Nano (no scratches yet) and the cookies from the cookies tin. A cookiepod combi :)

Today was a day with communication and creativity (innovation) as core elements. Next to talking to several Public initiatives, some exciting announcements came through ilse. First of all they introduced the very first IPTV high school soap www.perfectdays.nl that will be 'online' as of 25th of October. Also the Dutch Creative Industry Fund (www.dcif.nl) was announced. An investment fund espcially to promote the digital creative start up sector within The Netherlands. Exciting as we will be accepting business plans as of November this year.

The media week continues, with some of the more interesting parts, namely 'spotting'. Spotting is selecting those parts of a registration to be used in the final compilation. The advantage is that I saw www.denhaagtelecom.nl back again, in full, a couple of times....

The convergence between media and telecommunications becomes very clear from the material, but also from the discussions I had today with Apple. We will see many new formats, tools and other productions coming to market.

An interesting session Krijn and I went to at our own peril was the IPAN Podcasting event. Dressed in true cross media look, i.e. corduroy jacket, shirt, jeans and suede shoes we went to Villa Arena to hear the latest on the Dutch podcasting scene. Presentations from succesful podcst provider Radio 538 and new Podcast publisher Podplaza were on the roll for tonight. The interviews with Thomas van de Weerd (538) and Roelf Sluman (Podplaza) can of course be found as Blognomics podcast # 4 on www.blognomics.nl.

HDTV is getting a lot of attention now in The Netherlands. After the demonstrations last week at Den Haag telecom meeting, HD promotion appears everywhere. Even special Japanese cars are creating awareness for this high quality television service. Or am I spinning now?