Mike Butcher

Anyone interested in the London tech-networking scene will be aware of one of the better ones, namely Second Chance Tuesday. SCT was founded a couple of years ago when the tech sector came out of the cold, in part as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the first great networking shindig, First Tuesday, which boomed then imploded back in the day. That event started out as a cocktail party in Soho's Alphabet bar, but went on to be franchised out to many cities around the globe before it was sold for several million smackeroonies. Meanwhile SCT has done well to capitalise on its older namesake and actually run a few events worth going to in recent months.

But now, out of nowhere, First Tuesday has decided to re-animate itself like some kind of crazed zombie from 28 Weeks Later (or perhaps the bath tub scene in Fatal Attraction?). Winging it's way over to Bites Towers was an email today from one Christer Holloman "Chief Executive, First Tuesday UK":

"Are you in?
. . . as a former highly valued patron we would like to invite you to our launching event in London after the summer but first we would like to ask you to please reply a blank email (but feel free to include your job title, and company name/employer) to this address to confirm that you are still interested in hearing from us. If you prefer us to send information to another email address, just write that in your reply. Win 1 of 7 annual memberships in daily raffle! Over the next 7 days we will be giving away 1 annual membership per day (worth £440-£740) among those of you that re-register with us. If you are one of the winners, we will send you an email to notify you within 24h of your reply."

We confirmed with Holloman via email that First Tuesday is indeed back to bring us all together (as if Chinwag Live, SCT, Glasshouse, NMK and countless other events weren't enough already).

Holloman says: "Today we have only contacted old members asking them to verify their details and already we have 500 people in London interested to attend the first event and I am still working my way through the list as we speak. I haven’t released that information to anyone, so you are the first to hear that." He says the "official" announcement will be made in 4 weeks time, assuming it's needed by then of course…

If Google is correct, this is the same Christer Holloman who has some prior experience in networking, given that last year he created the Business Wise Network for entrepreneurial students, and all. For all our sakes, I do hope it is.

As hinted at back in February, Last.fm has been trawling around looking for a buyer and today it found its harbour in the form of a US media giant. The ’social music’ site has been bought by CBS Corporation for $280m (£140m). This is less than the earlier rumour, but still the largest-ever buyout of a UK-based “Web 2.0″ site.

The site was founded in the UK five years ago (you may have heard the stories about the founders sleeping on the office roof in a tent when they couldn’t afford accommodation). It now has more than 15 million active users. Users basically connect with other listeners with similar music tastes, build their own personal radio stations and watch music video-clips.

Although the announcement today says that Last.fm’s managing team (founders Felix Miller, Martin Stiksel and Richard Jones) will stay and the site will maintain its own separate identity, I can’t see this staying this way forever, now that it’s part of CBS, which will probably ditch the European sensibility of the service.

Stiksel reportedly said: “This move will really support us to get every track ever recorded and every music video ever made onto Last.fm.” He also says LastFM will “put the users in charge. CBS gets this.” Time will tell, time will tell.

Meanwhile for the less cynical among you, here is co-founder Richard Jones on the company blog today:

“The team here have spent a lot of time this year discussing what the future should hold for Last.fm, and while contemplating raising some additional venture capital we were approached by CBS. As you can imagine, we have been approached numerous times in the past few years from all the usual suspects regarding acquisitions and so on; CBS are one of the few companies who needed no explanation of what we are doing, and we were impressed at how progressive their plans are. This deal with CBS gives us a chance to really make Last.fm shine, and gives us more flexibility than other funding options would for doing all the crazy stuff we’re had scribbled on whiteboards for years.”

So why did CBS buy it? CBS radio is the largest radio group in the United States, with 179 stations in the top 50 markets, but traditional media growth is stagnating and all the action – as everyone knows, especially when it comes to music and the youth market – is all online. The purchase thus adds to an advertising portfolio that already includes conventional radio, broadcast and cable TV and outdoor services.

CBS now has a strategy of reaching as big an audience as possible, not on creating content. It sounds like they plan to rely more on the users and viewers themselves to do that. In fact, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves says Last.fm’s community play us “central to CBS”. In truth CBS is coming late to the now established idea that music is a natural community builder and therefore a very ’sticky’ eyeball attractor. As an anonymous CBS executive has already said: “We see it as a chance to get new eyeballs — or in this case earlobes.”

As for the price, it looks easily affordable by US standards. Consider some earlier deals: News Corp bought MySpace for $580m (£290m) in 2005. Google paid $165bn (£82bn) YouTube in 2006. But according to the LA Times, the final price for closely held Last.fm could rise substantially if performance targets are met. Last.fm got its first round of funding last May from Index Ventures.

There may be a problem for LastFM in that in the US the recent ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board massively increases the royalties Internet broadcasters have to pay for streaming digital songs. This has already hit Pandora’s plans to expand outside the US.

However advertising may offer more hope. Although LastFM recommends music for purchase, sales are not in fact a big revenue earner. Instead CBS will probably create sponsored channels, garnering bigger corporate deals with its existing sales contacts.

Expect also CBS radio stattions to start to appear on LastFM. Country AND Western anyone?

As hinted at back in February, Last.fm has been trawling around looking for a buyer and today it found its harbour in the form of a US media giant. The ’social music’ site has been bought by CBS Corporation for $280m (£140m). This is less than the earlier rumour, but still the largest-ever buyout of a UK-based “Web 2.0″ site.

The site was founded in the UK five years ago (you may have heard the stories about the founders sleeping on the office roof in a tent when they couldn’t afford accommodation). It now has more than 15 million active users. Users basically connect with other listeners with similar music tastes, build their own personal radio stations and watch music video-clips.

Although the announcement today says that Last.fm’s managing team (founders Felix Miller, Martin Stiksel and Richard Jones) will stay and the site will maintain its own separate identity, I can’t see this staying this way forever, now that it’s part of CBS, which will probably ditch the European sensibility of the service.

Stiksel reportedly said: “This move will really support us to get every track ever recorded and every music video ever made onto Last.fm.” He also says LastFM will “put the users in charge. CBS gets this.” Time will tell, time will tell.

Meanwhile for the less cynical among you, here is co-founder Richard Jones on the company blog today:

“The team here have spent a lot of time this year discussing what the future should hold for Last.fm, and while contemplating raising some additional venture capital we were approached by CBS. As you can imagine, we have been approached numerous times in the past few years from all the usual suspects regarding acquisitions and so on; CBS are one of the few companies who needed no explanation of what we are doing, and we were impressed at how progressive their plans are. This deal with CBS gives us a chance to really make Last.fm shine, and gives us more flexibility than other funding options would for doing all the crazy stuff we’re had scribbled on whiteboards for years.”

So why did CBS buy it? CBS radio is the largest radio group in the United States, with 179 stations in the top 50 markets, but traditional media growth is stagnating and all the action – as everyone knows, especially when it comes to music and the youth market – is all online. The purchase thus adds to an advertising portfolio that already includes conventional radio, broadcast and cable TV and outdoor services.

CBS now has a strategy of reaching as big an audience as possible, not on creating content. It sounds like they plan to rely more on the users and viewers themselves to do that. In fact, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves says Last.fm’s community play us “central to CBS”. In truth CBS is coming late to the now established idea that music is a natural community builder and therefore a very ’sticky’ eyeball attractor. As an anonymous CBS executive has already said: “We see it as a chance to get new eyeballs — or in this case earlobes.”

As for the price, it looks easily affordable by US standards. Consider some earlier deals: News Corp bought MySpace for $580m (£290m) in 2005. Google paid $165bn (£82bn) YouTube in 2006. But according to the LA Times, the final price for closely held Last.fm could rise substantially if performance targets are met. Last.fm got its first round of funding last May from Index Ventures.

There may be a problem for LastFM in that in the US the recent ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board massively increases the royalties Internet broadcasters have to pay for streaming digital songs. This has already hit Pandora’s plans to expand outside the US.

However advertising may offer more hope. Although LastFM recommends music for purchase, sales are not in fact a big revenue earner. Instead CBS will probably create sponsored channels, garnering bigger corporate deals with its existing sales contacts.

Expect also CBS radio stattions to start to appear on LastFM. Country AND Western anyone?

As hinted at back in February, Last.fm has been trawling around looking for a buyer and today it found its harbour in the form of a US media giant. The 'social music' site has been bought by CBS Corporation for $280m (£140m). This is less than the earlier rumour, but still the largest-ever buyout of a UK-based "Web 2.0" site.

The site was founded in the UK five years ago (you may have heard the stories about the founders sleeping on the office roof in a tent when they couldn't afford accommodation). It now has more than 15 million active users. Users basically connect with other listeners with similar music tastes, build their own personal radio stations and watch music video-clips.

Although the announcement today says that Last.fm's managing team (founders Felix Miller, Martin Stiksel and Richard Jones) will stay and the site will maintain its own separate identity, I can't see this staying this way forever, now that it's part of CBS, which will probably ditch the European sensibility of the service.

Stiksel reportedly said: "This move will really support us to get every track ever recorded and every music video ever made onto Last.fm." He also says LastFM will "put the users in charge. CBS gets this." Time will tell, time will tell.

Meanwhile for the less cynical among you, here is co-founder Richard Jones on the company blog today:

"The team here have spent a lot of time this year discussing what the future should hold for Last.fm, and while contemplating raising some additional venture capital we were approached by CBS. As you can imagine, we have been approached numerous times in the past few years from all the usual suspects regarding acquisitions and so on; CBS are one of the few companies who needed no explanation of what we are doing, and we were impressed at how progressive their plans are. This deal with CBS gives us a chance to really make Last.fm shine, and gives us more flexibility than other funding options would for doing all the crazy stuff we’re had scribbled on whiteboards for years."

So why did CBS buy it? CBS radio is the largest radio group in the United States, with 179 stations in the top 50 markets, but traditional media growth is stagnating and all the action – as everyone knows, especially when it comes to music and the youth market – is all online. The purchase thus adds to an advertising portfolio that already includes conventional radio, broadcast and cable TV and outdoor services.

CBS now has a strategy of reaching as big an audience as possible, not on creating content. It sounds like they plan to rely more on the users and viewers themselves to do that. In fact, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves says Last.fm's community play us "central to CBS". In truth CBS is coming late to the now established idea that music is a natural community builder and therefore a very 'sticky' eyeball attractor. As an anonymous CBS executive has already said: "We see it as a chance to get new eyeballs — or in this case earlobes."

As for the price, it looks easily affordable by US standards. Consider some earlier deals: News Corp bought MySpace for $580m (£290m) in 2005. Google paid $165bn (£82bn) YouTube in 2006. But according to the LA Times, the final price for closely held Last.fm could rise substantially if performance targets are met. Last.fm got its first round of funding last May from Index Ventures.

There may be a problem for LastFM in that in the US the recent ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board massively increases the royalties Internet broadcasters have to pay for streaming digital songs. This has already hit Pandora's plans to expand outside the US.

However advertising may offer more hope. Although LastFM recommends music for purchase, sales are not in fact a big revenue earner. Instead CBS will probably create sponsored channels, garnering bigger corporate deals with its existing sales contacts.

Expect also CBS radio stattions to start to appear on LastFM. Country AND Western anyone?

Following the purchase by Google of Feedburner, one of the only other players in RSS advertising is Pheedo. This currently counts Transcosmos as an investor. Of course, here in the UK Fedafi -which at one point during the last year was put up for sale – should feel their future a little more secure now Google is effectively putting its stamp of approval on RSS adverts.

One other point: Publishers tend to hate Google because it wrestles ad inventory from them for peanuts. What will they now think about Google having a lock on ads in their feeds? Many won't like it – but it's an early market for RSS ads and any extra revenue might be welcome. Especially for smaller publishers, like bloggers. We shall see…

No wonder Google has acquired RSS management service Feedburner. FeedBurner publishes feeds for PC World, Computerworld, Macworld, Reuters, USA Today, AOL, Newsweek and many many more big and small publishers. That means the bulk of the content from these sites passes through Feedburner, and what does Google love? Content and data, but especially eyeballs. According to TechCrunch (following an unconfirmed rumour on Vecosys) Feedburner is in the closing stages of being acquired by Google for around $100 million in cash. Google has effectively bought Feedburner to get into the RSS Ad market. The growth market for ad inventory – though still small outside of the tech sphere – is increasingly found in people reading site content via start pages like Netvibes, RSS services like Bloglines or RSS readers like NetNewsWire. These people never visit the actual sites, and yet their content needs to be monetised somehow. This is a threat to AdSense, which only appears on sites, not feeds. The answer? Buy a service like Feedburner, which had already set up its own advertising service. Bully for them.

No wonder Google has acquired RSS management service Feedburner. FeedBurner publishes feeds for PC World, Computerworld, Macworld, Reuters, USA Today, AOL, Newsweek and many many more big and small publishers. That means the bulk of the content from these sites passes through Feedburner, and what does Google love? Content and data, but especially eyeballs. According to TechCrunch (following an unconfirmed rumour on Vecosys) Feedburner is in the closing stages of being acquired by Google for around $100 million in cash. Google has effectively bought Feedburner to get into the RSS Ad market. The growth market for ad inventory – though still small outside of the tech sphere – is increasingly found in people reading site content via start pages like Netvibes, RSS services like Bloglines or RSS readers like NetNewsWire. These people never visit the actual sites, and yet their content needs to be monetised somehow. This is a threat to AdSense, which only appears on sites, not feeds. The answer? Buy a service like Feedburner, which had already set up its own advertising service. Bully for them.

Here's a run-down of the 'tech 2.0' style events happening over the rest of the year in the UK and nearby. Email editor at bites media dot com to have your event considered for inclusion. Paid-for enhanced listings are available – please email sales at bitesmedia dot com

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Computer Gaming & Virtual Worlds Public Policy Workshop
Ren Reynolds will lead a discussion about the public policy issues bought about by computer games and virtual worlds.

Friday, May 25, 2007
The Social Impact of the Web: Society, Government and the Internet
The RSA is looking to explore the political culture and norms that the internet has been instrumental in fostering, both in relation to centralised democratic politics, and more diffuse social and civic networks, including blogging.

Friday, May 25, 2007
Better Blogger Relations
How PR can engage with social media? A half-day workshop about the opportunities and threats associated with the latest developments in 'social media'"

[More events after the jump]

Friday, May 25, 2007
London Drupal Drop-In
Presentations will range from a complete introduction through to expert tips, and there will also be a number of Drupal experts available to answer your questions.

Friday, May 25, 2007
MiniBar6
For those who don't have time to attend a full BarCamp, some of us have come up with MiniBar, a chance to snaffle some free beer while discussing p2p, Creative Commons, web applications, social networking and general Web 2.0 mayhem & fandango.

Saturday, May 26, 2007 – Sunday, May 27, 2007
BarCamp Sheffield
BarCamp Sheffield is an open forum for all ages with an interest in all things Internet related.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Plotting the Brighton Digital Festival
We're holding a drop-in session to plot what events might go into the programme: next Tuesday 29 May, 5-8pm, upstairs at The Victory, 6 Duke St, BN1 1AH.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Brighton New Media Social
Long overdue BNM social. Same format as before – no speakers, nothing heavy, just a chance to meet other subscribers over a beer.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Geek Dinner with Becky Hogge from the Open rights group

Thursday, May 31, 2007 – Friday, June 1, 2007
Mobile Lifestyle Experience (MLX) 07
A combined annual exhibition and conference for the mobile
and media sectors.

Thursday, May 31, 2007
New Statesman New Media Awards
The New Statesman is once again looking for entries for its New Media Awards. Running annually since 1998, the awards celebrate the positive impact that digital media can have on society, democracy, politics and culture.

Jun 1, 2007
PSFK Conference London
PSFK presents a series of presentations and discussions by leading innovators over the course of a day speak to an audience from the creative, media and marketing communities.

June 5, 2007
Delivering the New PR 2.0
Social media is revolutionising the way we communicate. Speakers include social media PR expert, Neville Hobson – http://www.nevillehobson.com.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007
London Wiki Wednesday at Conchango
London Wiki Wednesdays are held once every two months on the first Wednesday of each month.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Sussex Geek Dinner
Geek dinner for programmers, web developers, bloggers, and anyone else into computers and gadgets.

Monday, June 11, 2007
Energy 2.0
Energy 2.0 is a new series of events in the UK bringing together the industry innovators, smart investors, forward looking NGOs, strong government leaders and media organisations who are playing in role in shaping the next era of energy generation, management and efficiency. Registration will be open very soon please email tony[@]mashupevent.com if you'd like to pre-register.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Geek Dinner with Jyri Engeström of Jaiku

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
NMK Forum 07
NMK's annual get-together to discuss the business and digital issues of the day, the year, the age! NMK Forum 07 will act as a melting pot of the essential strategies for commercial success in a digital age.

Saturday, June 16, 2007 – Sunday, June 17, 2007
Yahoo! BBC Hackday 2007
http://hackday.org has all the details – the wording is a bit 'official' but that's what happens when lawyers attack.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Chinwag Live: The Dark Side Of Social Media
Identity theft, scurrilous abuse, libel, stalking, scams and even violence… Social media, once hailed as the great new "Naked Conversation" where the planet would talk to itself in a spirit of open debate and companies would 'crowd source' fantastic new products, is starting to turn sour.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Mashup – On Location
Within this theme of location we will be exploring where and what the value of location is. 

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 – Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Online Marketing Show
From search to online ads, mobile to analytics, the show tackles all the challenges and issues surrounding online marketing, and shows you how to make interactive marketing and advertising campaigns work for their money. Brought to you by NMA and Marketing Week

Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Essential Web 2007
Essential Web 2007 is a unique one-day showcase of the most dynamic and disruptive web ventures today, with an exceptional mix of pioneering internet innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity that will change our world tomorrow.

Saturday, June 30, 2007
BarCampBelfast
BarCamp comes to Belfast. Come along and tech out..

Saturday, June 30, 2007
DeveloperDeveloperDeveloper (DDD) 5
There will be NO Microsoft speakers presenting, just speakers from the UK .NE

T developer community; although we will have some of the Microsoft UK Developer Team on hand to help out and chat to attendees.

Tuesday, July 12, 2007
Mashup – TV 2.0
Exploring the next phase of TV. 

Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Mobile Marketing
A full day workshop introducing you to the world of mobile marketing and how to apply it in the real world.

Sunday, November 4, 2007 – Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Flash on the Beach 2007
The Flash on the Beach 2007 conference will be the second time that over 40 of the world's most talented Flash designers, developers and artists will have been brought together to present the most creative, technical, inspirational awe-inspiring, educational and entertaining sessions across a wide range of subjects.

Sony is going to allow PlayStation Portable (PSP) owners make VoIP and video calls using a camera and microphone which will hit the shops on 25 May. Gamers will be able to call other PSP owners and some BT phones. BT is developing the software, which was originally intended for the Nintendo handheld. The BBC reports the service will initially only be available in the UK and will only work on home or BT wireless hotspots, of which there are 2,000 so far. There are 24 million PSPs sold globally, eight million in the UK. Interestingly, this will be one of the first applications of BT’s 21 Century Network (21CN).

It’s not clear as yet, but it sounds like you will only be able to make calls if you are a BT customer already, meaning you’ll have to log-in with a customer ID to the network. We wait to be enlightened…

Joost is hiring talent scouts Creative Artists Agency to get Hollywood programming onto its service. Along with well known programming and a clutch of top advertisers Joost wants to offer shows from independent professional video makers rather than “wild” UGC/social media. Joost has $45 million from five backers and signed Viacom and sister company CBS for content recently.