Ian's Blog » Marketing

Being a Minion

Ian Olsen — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:09:31 +0000

Several of the Evil Mastermind ads have featured SourceGear employees as minions. I make an appearance as Minion 72 in Episode 8, which appears in November issues of Dr. Dobb’s and MSDN.

The people who created this comic claim it’s coincidence that Detroit is one of the banishment buttons, despite the fact that I spent 15 years there before moving to Champaign. I’m skeptical. I just think none of them want to admit responsibility. My wife nearly started a brawl when she overheard someone badmouthing Detroit after the Michigan-Illinois game Saturday. If she finds out whose idea it was, there could definitely be trouble. She looks sweet, but don’t be fooled.

Cylons. Why debugging matters.

Ian Olsen — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 19:00:15 +0000

I’ve just recently been turned on to Battlestar Galactica. I’m just starting season 2 on DVD and definitely enjoying it.

This afternoon a coworker pointed out this banner ad at the show’s site, which I found amusing.

Marketing Stunts

Ian Olsen — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 14:45:26 +0000

There’s a reason most developers don’t grok marketing: lots of marketing makes no sense. Literally. Apparently a good way to create buzz is to do something senseless.

I’ve been following Cambrian House for a couple of weeks now. My very limited understanding of their model is this:

Solicit contributions from essentially anybody for product ideas.
Solicit contributions from developers and graphic designers to produce those products. Contributors get points based on their contributions.
If/when the product makes money, contributors are paid based on their points.

Anyway back to senseless marketing stunts. Today Cambrian House released a video on YouTube where they feed Googlers lunch by showing up unannounced with 1000 pizzas. Ostensibly they’re recognizing that they “stand on the shoulders of giants” and expressing their appreciation to Google for um, allowing them to stand on their shoulders, or something.

So yeah, it make no sense, but it’s fun. And here I am, helping generate that buzz. I best keep my day job.