LagrangePoint - Brad Howarth

Hoyts - doing e-commerce badly

Have just had a less-than-entertaining experience buying cinema tickets from Hoyts. I've never seen the point of standing in queues, so the idea of buying tickets online is my preferred option, despite the extra charge incurred in doing so. But when I tried booking two tickets for a session this morning, this is the message that greeted me after hitting the 'place order' button:

We are currently experiencing difficulties with this payment confirmation page. We can confirm that your transaction has been processed. Please proceed to the box office at your selected cinema with the credit card used to make this purchase and you will be able to claim your ticket(s).

So have I bought tickets or not?

As it turns out, I have - i subsequently received a confirmation email. The only problem is, I need to print that message out and take it to the box office to collect the tickets. Hoyts at the Entertainment Quarter (known formerly as Fox Studios) often only has one attendant on the box office. Perhaps with a couple of blockbusters in cinema they might up the service ratio. Either way, I'm going back into the queue.

The whole process totally destroys the benefit that I was seeking in purchasing the tickets online.

Very annoying.

SmartCompany - Australia's best online forums

You've probably guessed that I love making lists. Some time soon I intend to compile my list of the best lists of 2008. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. In the meantime, you can check out my latest list for SmartCompany - this time it's the best online forums in Australia (although to be fair my idea was simply to talk about what makes a good forum, rather than to rank them in any way - there are many, many more that were worthy of inclusion). You can check it out by clicking here.

Next on the list (get it?) is a list of the 10 Next Big Things on the web to come out of Australia. That one has been delayed by a week or two - hopefully the outcome will be worth the wait.

More good advice - this time from MathMarketing

I've known Hugh Macfarlane since he was the head of online projects at Digital Equipment Corporation back in the 1990s (yes, I am old). Believe it or not, before its eventual acquisition and destruction at the hands of Compaq, Digital was at the cutting edge of e-business development within its sales channel in Australia. Hugh subsequently took his knowledge of sales process and used it to form MathMarketing, a boutique sales and marketing consulting group. Each month Hugh puts out an email newsletter with tips on improving your sales processes and your business overall. I particularly like this one on how to upset your buyers.

Smart and simple online ideas from CleverLink

I've written before in praise of Wollongong-based entrepreneur Camtu Pham and her company CleverLink, as an example of an online business that practices what it preaches by using and promoting simple strategies for growth. Each week Camtu sends out an email newsletter containing ideas for enhancing your business. I particularly liked her top six reasons why you should constantly update your web content (my own view is that if you are running a small business and not publishing a blog, you are missing a huge opportunity, but I'll write on that some other time ...), and last week's one on effecively networking at functions.  Anyway, you can check out her CleverTips by clicking here.

Story in development - seeking the next big things online

Am still on the hunt for Australia's best emerging online companies and ideas. I'm keeping the search pretty broad at this stage, but they must be able to demonstrate some level of initial success in terms of revenue, customers or consumers, in addition to their potential. I've got some great responses so far, but am sure there must be more waiting to be uncovered .... If you have something in mind, please get back to me by 18 November.

Sunday Magazine - Tech Guide 2008

It's pretty rare that I get the chance to play with gadgets these days, so when Sunday Magazine asked me to put together a list of five of the best gadgets for work, holiday, home, and commuting, I jumped at it. Unfortunately the resulting feature is not available on the web, and was only printed in last Sunday's colour magazine in the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Herald Sun. If you want to check out the draft pages, they are pasted below, but please note this version differs from what was printed and there are several errors here that are yet to be corrected: Download TechGuide

Pathfinder Business magazine available online

A little while back I penned my first stories for the UK-based global business development magazine Pathfinder Business. The electronic edition of that magazine is now available online, and you can find it by clicking here. My stories on Fiji, PNG, Vietnam and Tuvalu commence from page 15 (although they are not by-lined). The e-edition is available free of charge but you will need to register.

I'm about to start the hunt for the next round of stories from the Asia Pacific region, and so am seeking ideas and contacts across the region. Any suggestions gratefully accepted. And thanks to everyone who has assisted s far.

Twitter me

A lot of friends have been at for a while now about getting myself onto Twitter, the microblogging service that lets you communicate with the world at 140 characters at a time (better late than never I suppose). It's about a month into my Twitter experience, and I can clearly see the point of it - last week I posted a tweet asking for stats on mobile advertising and got a bunch of responses back within minutes. Hence I've decided to make Twitter one of (if not the primary) means of alerting folk as to what I am doing and what I am working on (which should be especially useful to anyone in PR who wants to know what I am writing about). You can find me as @bhowarth.

Also, for anyone who is not familair with Twitter, noted blogger Stilgherrian recently penned this piece as advice to another recent Twitter user, Kevin Rudd - it's worth a read for getting an overview of what Twitter is all about.

Searching for the next big thing online

People love lists, and I love creating them - at least it looks that way right now, based on these recent stories for SmartCompany: Australia's top web 2.0 entrepreneurs, Australia's top 10 mobile moguls and Top 10 digital entrepreneurs with stars and stripes in their eyes. The latest is a mission is to compile the list of the next 10 'next big things' that have hit the web from Australia. So I'm searching for websites and companies that have developed highly-innovative online ideas, and begun to demonstrate the rapid uptake that marks them for 'next big thing' status. If you have any suggestions, please let me know either by email or by leaving a post here.

AIMIA & Austrade New York Digital Media Trade Mission 2009 - places filling fast

In February this year I was lucky enough to be able to take myself over to New York City to follow the first AIMIA and Austrade Digital Media Trade Mission to that city. Amongst the companies that attended were ShadoCMS, Ish Media, TigerSpike and Traction. It was great to hear how Australian-grown ideas fared in the melting pot of the Big Apple, and see them subsequently build their global businesses. The trip also resulted in this story in B&T's Digital Media magazine. Seems interest is high in a return mission, despite the plunging Australian dollar, so if you would like to know more, click here.