Tony Perkins of AlwaysOn is giving a keynote. He’s drawn a whole lot of fire over the past 1.5 days, in his absence, because some people think he’s been claiming to be a champion blogger (through an actual PR person) even though AlwaysOn isn’t actually a blog. I don’t know him and have no opinion. He’s going to talk about why he’s an inappropriate choice as a keynoter and why it’s a great time to be an entrepreneur. Then, why “participatory journalism” can be “leveraged” to do great things. Then, he’s going to talk about the AlwaysOn network’s business model.

“I’m not really a blogger,” he says. But he is a “media entrepreneur.” He started Upside and Red Herring. While he’s a “poseur” in this market (blogging, presumably), “I have never been so excited or had so much fun in my entire professional career” as he’s having with AlwaysOn.

It’s a great time to be an entrepreneur because the initial work of the Internet (the Bubble) did the loss-leader work of creating a market and infrastructure. He built AlwaysOn for $50K in developer time and $150 sw project (“P Machine”). In 1996, it would have cost millions.

He’s done research that confirms that this Internet thing is going to be big with the kids. By 2005, there will be 2B users (half non-PC users), 2B cellphone users. “Wireless is going to be a huge driver.” By the end of 2003, every Sony TV will come with a Net address.

Tony has a set of principles for media start-ups. It’s stuff like “It’s better to bootstrap than go to a board of director meetings” and “Build a community that advertisers care about.” Not a lot new here.

Tony’s “entrepreneurial lightbulbs”: “Voyeurism is good for stickiness.” Open Source means that the guys who are usually interviewed now post their ideas directly. And the “eBayization of Media.”

“Open Source Media” means that members can post comments and do so under their own names. You can get context info about members.

AO makes money by sponsorships and advertisements, and by producing events. Also, paid members receive premier services. Plus a bunch of other stuff.

“So, why am I here? Most importantly, to get feedback because I’m not from the community.” He wants to find partners, to engage with developers over “identity” issues, etc.

Q: Could you quantify the size of the opportunity for bloggers?

A: You could build a network around every community gathered around a subscription.

Q: (Dave Winer) If you’re successful at what you do, how will what you do be like a weblog?

A: I’m giving people a chance to participate.

Dave and Tony go at it, to no avail.

Q: (Halley) What happens when members post stuff that criticizes the site’s sponsors?

A: The sponsors are prepared for that.

A kerfuffle breaks out about whether AlwaysOn is a blog. IMO, the only issue is whether Tony is attempting to coopt the term “blog.”

Categories: Uncategorized dw