a cool business social network

Now, with people getting fired because of their crazy photos from last night's party tagged on Facebook or their Twitter status that says too much, it is time for a serious approach on social networks. So, some smart guys created Qapacity, a business social network where one can offer his services in a marketplace built on personal reviews. Clients looking for services can access professionals which have been reviewed, recommended and rated by people who have used their services.

The platform is very user friendly. Sign up, add your services and in 3 minutes you get your own website for free. You can customize this site and add a blog, link it to your Flickr account or to other social networks you use. It is the online place to be, especially for small businesses and freelancers.

The guys behind Qapacity are Lasse, Sergio, Ina, Daniel, Julian & Tomy and they are calling themselves "a small group of internet entrepreneurs, coders and geeks living in Barcelona". Well done guys, well done!

Primavera in the metro

The countdown for Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona started already and now there are only 2 days left. It is one of the best music events in South Europe and for sure a "must-go-to". But Primavera Sound took a ride with the Barcelona metro this weekend. Universitat, Passeig de Gràcia and Sagrada Família metro stations became spaces for live performances with the help of TMB and Ajuntament de Barcelona, an institution that doesn't stop to culturally amaze me. I really think they are the perfect example for a public institution that cares, works for and educates the citizens of a region, namely Catalunya. The city is giving back to the people what belongs to them. Isn't that cool?

Live music in the metro is a long term project for TMB as they started in 2001 with creating special corners for musicians to perform in the metro stations. Of course, you think musicians in the metro is not something new at all, but what is new is that here they have special spots created by the city hall!!!



Linking public transport with urban culture and the young is a great initiative and I wonder what happens in other big cities of this world. Usually citizens reclaim the public spaces and organize some forbidden instant events, like Reclaim the Sparkasse in Berlin that happens in a ATM space of a bank or in other places that need to be reclaimed. They have fun until the police comes. Sure, doing something forbidden always makes things more interesting but what happens in Barcelona is still very very cool.

artvertising

A few centuries ago, art was considered/used as advertising (some of my favs: Alfonso Mucha, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec). Now there are a lot of debates on whether advertising can be considered art. All the creatives from the advertising agencies long for the 'artist' status. Is placing fine art in the ads a way of getting it? Of course not, but the number of famous paintings used in prints is increasing lately and I find some of them interesting and funny.

El Corte Ingles launched this year a campaign inspired by Velázquez's 'Las Meninas'. Practically, the painting is being brought into modern times, each and every element from the original painting being edited according to today's life. Velázquez is becoming a photographer, the canvas is an umbrella, even the wardrobe keeps the times' feeling, besides the painter's leather jacket obviously. Nothing is random, not even selecting Velázquez for promoting a very traditional supermarket for Spanish people. El Corte Ingles is their every Sunday store, a family tradition as they go together, almost a ritual. I could go on and on talking about Las Meninas and its mirror and reflection game, about the semiotics of this painting, as it was also a subject for my thesis at University, but I will let you discover its meaning.

Another long term debate in advertising is on the efficiency of the campaigns. I won't go to El Corte Ingles just because I like Velázquez but for sure this print will stick to my mind. What exactly are they counting on when creating such an ad? They say it's useful because art catches your eyes and the ad grabs its quality, increasing memory on the product. It is true that art connects emotionally with people and in a way it is less artificial and has a stronger impact.

Art appropriation is the use of a work of art in an advertisement. It seems that in the process of appropriation, art lends some of its cultural aura to the advertisement, which becomes aesthetically charged. A bit too spiritual, isn't it? A few qualitative studies suggest that not only does appropriation result in the advertisement gaining some aesthetic value, but it also results in the artwork losing some of its original aesthetic value.

Anyway, there is a constant fear among contemporary artists that, if their work will be stripped of the artistic context, very little would remain. Do Dali, Velázquez , Magritte and many others turn in their graves right now?

Advertising, as McLuhan said, may have indeed been the greatest art form of the 20th century. Perhaps art will be known as the greatest form of advertising in the next.

the flash mob phenomena

I am crazy about flash mobs. Ever since I heard about the phenomena I wanted to be part of it and then I was constantly trying to convince my clients (when i was doing my PR job for Lowe Public Relations in Bucharest) of the awareness of such an event. I guess Eastern Europe is not yet ready for this kind of crazy happenings but there are some big cities all over Europe that do it and do it good.

For those of you who are not familiar with the concept, a flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. Usually the people are notified by e-mail or social networks where to be, at what time and what they have to do.

In fact, this kind of event is not new at all. It is in a way a form of performance art and it works like a political demonstration but with totally different goals. The first flash mob dates from 2003 when Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper's Magazine, convinced more than 100 people to go to the 9th floor rug department of Macy's, gathering around an expensive rug. Anyone approached by a sales assistant was advised to say that the gatherers lived together in a warehouse in New York, that they were shopping for a "love rug", and that they made all their purchase decisions as a group. Then followed: 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the Hyatt hotel in synchronized applause for about 15 seconds, and a shoe boutique in SoHo that was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip.

Starting as an action made just for fun, it became a PR&advertising tool, a bit overused but still very entertaining. It is pretty clear that T-mobile has an on going flash mob based advertising strategy.

A lot of people today wish to be part of a flash mob. My friend who lives in London is almost crying now for not being in the right time at the right moment, 3 days ago, when T-Mobile hosted a huge karaoke session in Trafalgar Square. The footage from the event will be used in the new T-Mobile TV ad.




Most notable was worldwide pillow fight day in March 2008. Over 25 cities around the globe participated in the first "international flash mob", which was the world's largest flash mob to date but I can't decide whether my favorite is Frozen in Grand Central or the T-Mobile dance.

Casa da Música

What is that?! Is it a bird? Noooooo! Is it a plane? Noooooo! Is it an UFO? Nooooo! Is it Casa da Música? Yeeeeaah!

The year in which Porto was Cultural Capital of Europe, 2001, gave birth to the first new building in Portugal to be entirely dedicated to music - to the presentation and public enjoyment of music, to music education and to the creation of music. It is so cool that Roisin Murphy - who is for me the Queen of Coolness - held her concert there last year.

Interaction and engagement are very important these days when it comes to successful happenings, as everyone wants to feel part of the process. Everybody wants to be an artist now and wants to make things with his own hands. At Casa da Música you can even create your own music or play various types of games which imply sounds.

I've been there to an impressive show which featured people with disabilities and was bringing together live music, videos and contemporary dance. The purpose of this show was to raise awareness on the social problem that these people have. It was shocking but extremely good.

Looking like a building from the future, Casa da Música is the place to go when visiting Porto, not only for the show experience but also for the architectural one. The pictures speak for themselves. I just want to add that there are no 90 degrees angles here.

out in the street

Barcelona is one very alive city. Doesn't matter if it's 9 in the morning or 3 in the night, you are never alone on the streets. Moreover, you can have the best of fun without spending a lot of money, spontaneously joining "botellon" parties (a custom that takes place mainly in the Spanish nightlife, which involves the gathering of a large number of young people to drink beverages previously acquired in shops (usually supermarkets), to listen to music and talk) in the small placas singing along with the talented guitar, harp, flute, sax singers. They make you feel you are their special public, engaging you more and more with every song.

So, if you find yourself late at night, walking on the streets without anything interesting to do, you can always go to Placa del Sol and witness special gimmicks, like the girl in this picture is doing, or just sit and relax, listening to people putting all their sorrows and happiness in touching instruments.

more pics: Gracia by night

RA DIOHEA_D

Last year, rock innovators Radiohead shot a video for House of Cards. No cameras or lights were used. Instead two technologies captured 3D images: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. Geometric Informatics scanning systems produce structured light to capture 3D images at close proximity, while a Velodyne Lidar system that uses multiple lasers is used to capture large environments such as landscapes. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes.

Are you among those who understand each and every word of what I just said? I must admit I am not that good when it comes to technical details though I like to think of myself as a technology oriented person. When I first saw this video I felt really outdated and I was wondering what did I do all this time. Where was I?

Imagine that in 2050 all the information generated until know (since the existence of Earth) will be doubled. I wonder if in a few years time I will still be able to understand something about this world or I will have some kind of 'grandma' syndrome. So this, cloud computing, nanotechnology and what's next?

Shot by James Frost of Zoo Films, the video can be viewed here: HouseOfCards

le cool

I started to read Lecool magazine as soon as i got to Barcelona. Being new in such a city is not an easy thing to do so, Lecool was there for me when i didn't know where to start from. This is how i got to the most amazing&crazy parties, concerts, shops in here.

Last week I had the chance to visit their headquarters and found out the story behind this cool magazine. Sincerely, i found what i was expecting. Behind such a cool thing there can't be anything else but cool&special people.

They work in an old precious building from Barrio Gotico and hold their meetings in a lovely patio, remembering me of Eixample's hidden gardens.

As every success story, it started with someone's desire to show stuff. Desire to share good places with friends and continuously pursuing for "the best" one. Slowly, Lecool became a good friend in the know, edgy but not elite, speaking to trendsetting readers, having the "knowledge for a better living" kind of vision.

Passion is the name of the game...cause that is how they choose which event should be published. So let yourself caught!