Rye Clifton

Senior Strategist :: New York office

site :: I'm on Twitter
site :: I take pictures
site :: I cause trouble on YouTube

Hi, I’m Rye.

Some things about me:
• I have an extremely deep belly button
• I’m from Waco, TX
• I’m kinda tall, have brownish hair, wear t-shirts sometimes
• I’m a strategy guy
• I have a notch missing from my left ear
• I’ve worked at The Richards Group, The Martin Agency, and now here… oh, and I also interned at Publicis back in the day
• I like taking pictures, I shoot with a Pentax
• There is a birthmark on my left knee, not dirt
• I have a growing appreciation for vinyl. I recently purchased a Rega P3
• I like to cook / eat / drink
• I enjoy questioning nay sayers
• Clients have included (but not limited to) Walmart, Game Stop, Red Lobster, Atlantis
• I have extremely soft hands
• Yesterday I accidentally left 3 pairs of underwear at the meatball factory
• My name on most of the web is simply ryeclifton
• I’m scared of people I don’t know… so please introduce yourself
• I’m always up for grabbing a coffee or beer or both

F the #FF, Let's have intros

posted by on October 21, 2011 at 01:32 PM
filed under: Social Media

#FollowFriday is great and all, but I feel like I’m starting to ignore it. Thats a lie, I always ignore it.

I’m already overwhelmed by following 183 people and not really looking to add anyone else. In fact, every couple of months I go through and cut people who are either too loud or are no longer engaging me. Sometimes it is hard, I feel like those people are going to find out and be upset. When my friend Phil went on a massive killing streak a couple of years ago, he started getting angry responses from people asking why he stopped following them.

It is all kinda silly, right?

Anyway, I still love finding a good new person to follow, but think it would be a lot more meaningful if there were a way to make specific introductions: Hey Rye, meet XXXX. You are both into YYYYY. This way, we’re not just randomly following a new person… we’re building a new relationship.

Lets try it. Introduce me to someone new, tell us why we should be friends, and one day we can all high five in real life.

Rye

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SURPRISE!

posted by on October 20, 2011 at 12:29 AM

Louis C.K. has a great (old) bit on technology. His point is that we take everything for granted and no longer appreciate advancement around us. It is pretty funny, and really true.

I started thinking about this bit again as I was monitoring my own content consumption. I used to start every day with Gizmodo and Engadget. Then I’d go back a couple of times throughout the day to see if there was anything new and mind blowing. Now… they are both just another feed I might see in my percolator each morning.

A few things seem to be changing. First, there is a lot more content to be consumed each day. With so many sources, thoughts, ideas, twitter feeds… It is impossible to take it all in. Then, when you do, your brain gets tired...

The other thing is that innovation seems to have slowed down. Computers are fast enough and small enough, handsets have touch screens, HD cameras, and you can get the internet anywhere. Sure, everything could always be faster or better… but changes seem to be incremental rather than monumental.

Or maybe I’m just jaded?

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Social by Design

posted by on September 22, 2011 at 02:49 PM
filed under: Social Media

I watched most of Facebook’s F8 conference today. Lot’s of new stuff, lots of monitoring in the background. I’m sure a lot of people will freak out about privacy issues… but once we move past that, there is one phrase that sticks out, “social by design.”

I’ve been doing a lot of research on self monitoring lately. Both for personal and work reasons, it has been a hot topic. The 4-Hour Body, Fitbit, Nike+, Jawbone UP, 23 and Me, and the Garmin Vector are just some of the things that stand out.

I’ve also had a mild obsession with communities that are based on interest rather than friends… like Svpply or the Netflix recommendation algorithm. My thought is that your best friends might not be the best source for information on a niche issue.

So what does the new facebook platform offer? One word: Context.

Its all too easy to monitor your own runs every day. Or your diet. Or your taste in music. You can see what you’re doing and what might be working (if you have some goal in mind)... but it takes on a whole new meaning when you can compare yourself. Not just to friends, but people in similar situations.

This is what I think is so cool about all of this new stuff. It gives you a new way of looking at yourself, in the context of your social graph. It gives you new reasons to talk to old friends. And it gives the over-sharers a filter, where they can still capture every moment of their child’s life, without broadcasting it to the world. There is a place to share things with everyone, and a place to record history… all in real-time, all in the background.

And this is why I think social design is important. We’ve got to start making tools that fit seamlessly within our life. The benefit for people who use the tracking tools I mentioned above is amazing… but the user base is still small. Anything that has a layer of complexity or an extra decision is going to kill usage. So designing products with this in mind from the beginning IS key. And the focus shouldn’t necessarily show off what you’re doing to your friends, but to track it for yourself, and to learn from it.

Thats why I had a ‘holy shit’ moment when they started talking about Feltron. I can’t count the number of times I’ve referenced his reports, not just for content, but style as well. If this is any indication of what the timeline will look and feel like… I can’t help but get a little excited.

Think about your aggregated data over 10 years. One interface pulls together your meals, exercise, friends, music, vacations, pictures… What happens when you start trending the data? Maybe you find out that there is a correlation with the number of vacations you take and the amount you exercise. Maybe you start to see a pattern of your mood and how it affects your weight over time. Maybe you learn that the more you interact with certain friends, the more you succeed in work. WHO KNOWS WHAT WE’LL LEARN. But I think it is cool as hell that we can build the tools to make it happen.

I’ll end with a quote from Peter Drucker, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, “What gets measured gets managed.” A lot of people are making a lot of cool stuff right now, and Facebook is giving us an interface to tie the data together. Once that data is collected, we’ll be able to start telling new stories in new ways… and finding that meaning within the data is where I see the future.

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Shockoe Forward

posted by on August 03, 2011 at 06:13 PM

Check this out: Shockoe Forward

This is a project I started about two years ago while living in Richmond, VA. Shockoe Bottom is an area of town ripe for development, but nothing ever happens. After some research, I learned that the area was divided into 3 different city counsel districts… which means you’re never going to get enough voters to get you re-elected if you focus on this area of town.

This is bullshit.

So we started looking at ways to learn about what people wanted to see happen. From fixing potholes to revamping the farmers market, to opening a new business; we wanted to create a place for people to come together, to share ideas, and to help each other out… with the big goal to show the community that people do care about Shockoe Bottom, and that our voices wouldn’t go un-noticed.

The website is filled with projects. You can start something new or join in and help out. Over time, responses and suggestions become semi-automated: “here is the cellphone number for the person at the city you need to call to get this pothole fixed”. We really want it to be that direct… So the community can remove the layers, and create action.

On the back end, we can start to identify the people who really want to make a difference, who take charge of situations, and motivate action. On the other hand, we can find the detractors, and learn why they are opposed to certain things.

Today is the launch. So check it out, and if you have friends in Richmond, VA… please pass it along to them.

Thanks,
Rye

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8 days without a phone

posted by on August 01, 2011 at 10:53 AM
filed under: Mobile

My ideal vacation includes a nice view, an air conditioner, and an internet connection. Not that I want to work, but I feel more comfortable staying on top of things and in-the-know. I’d never considered a phone being part of the equation, because I’d never considered my phone being out of my pocket. Even without service, it is a wifi safety net that allows you to randomly check in when a signal is available.

This past week, I was untethered. I left my phone at a motel in Childress, Texas.

The first four hours were filled with anxiety. I couldn’t figure out where my phone had gone. Was it in the car? Was it in my dad’s car? Had I left it at breakfast, was it still in the hotel?

Luckily, I had the “Find my iPhone” app installed on my phone… unfortunately there is very little 3G service between Childress, TX and Colorado [I’M TALKING TO YOU NEW MEXICO]... and even worse, my app wasn’t set properly [THANKS TO THIS GUY] so it didn’t help anyway… Technology, had failed me.

After several calls to the Holiday Inn Express, Rhonda had located my phone (apparently the cleaning crew had found it, but hadn’t yet reported it to the front desk… funny). Anyway, we made grand plans for her to send my phone to Colorado. I gave her the address, lots of praise, and let her know how she had saved the day, eased my anxiety, and restored my sanity.

The phone never showed up.

Rhonda was going to send the phone on Monday morning from her other job at the bank. We never discussed details, but I figured I’d probably have it back by Thursday… Friday afternoon the panic started to build again.

Turns out the new manager wasn’t going to let Rhonda walk out the door with some customer’s iphone… This means it was still hanging out in Childress, in the vault, at the Holiday Inn Express, 600+ miles away.

At 4:45 yesterday my iPhone was finally back in my hands… and it didn’t feel all that special. Sure, I was glad to have it back, and catch up on a bunch of text messages, and play some Words with Friends… but I realized I hadn’t missed out on all that much.

Going a week without my phone or a constant internet connection forced me to think in a different way. Instead of anticipating what was new and next, or refreshing the headlines, or watching emails come in… I was able to think, to process information, and to make connections that I wouldn’t normally give myself time to make.

I’ve always been a proponent for feeding your brain (and I still think that is hugely important to coming up with new thoughts)... but you also have to give yourself time to process those thoughts, allow them to marinate, and to connect and play with each other inside your head.

So in the end, I want to thank Rhonda for finding my phone, keeping it safe, and keeping it away from me for a week so I could think without interruption. Turns out that in a pinch, I’m ok without it.

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We're all in this together.

posted by on July 15, 2011 at 01:13 PM
filed under: Social Media

When Mark Zuckerberg launched video calling within Facebook a couple weeks ago (which Isn’t all that exciting on its own), he did make a couple of points that resonated with me. He said that the last 5 years have been about connecting people online, and the next 5 years are going to be about building apps that use those connections. And thats where I think things get interesting.

When you start to consider connected utility, and group dynamics… Facebook, Twitter and Google+ just become a backbone for other more meaningful applications. In essence, they are going to be like the phone company or ISP that allows for experiences to happen on top of their shell.

We’re already seeing it with Facebook Connect, or signing in with Twitter, or The Klout + Spotify launch (as means of connecting services by utilizing existing relationships)... But the thing that has me really thinking in a new way are the services like Google Hangout and Turntable.FM. These are the first applications (outside of gaming) that have really taken advantage of a shared experience in a digital space.

Google+ Hangouts seem the most interesting, because it feels the most open. So far, I’ve had casual conversations, team meetings, watched a prototype streaming web show, watched videos, and planned a group fantasy football draft with Google+. Once you change the dynamic of how people interact, you change the possibilities for what can happen.

Turntable.FM is another service that brings groups together in new / awesome ways. For the past few days we’ve had theme radio rooms. Jock Jams on Tuesday and Makeout Music for Wednesday (HUMP DAY), and drinking tunes for Thirsty Thursday. It gives people a way to join in, or a fun way to have background music during the day…

The great thing about both of these services is that they can be passive. Hanging out means that someone can just drop in and say hello. Turntable is a way to discover new music, and hangout with friends… but doesn’t require constant interaction or interruption.

I see this as a fairly dramatic change in how social can work… and most of this has only gained traction in the past couple of weeks. It should be fun to figure out what else we can create in the next five years.

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Just Hangin Out

posted by on June 30, 2011 at 01:03 AM
filed under: Social Media

OMG guys… I just got finished hanging out with so many people. My friends, Lindsey’s friends, Barbarians, my cousin, my cousin’s friends, people I didn’t even know… It was like a party… BUT ON THE INTERNET.

Actually… surprisingly… The Google+ hangout was pretty cool. There were 18 people who came in and out of our little party with about 8-10 at any given time. New people rotated in and out, and it never really felt overwhelming. It actually felt new and different. Maybe we were surprised and excited by the novelty and newness… maybe it was just a good group of people, but it actually felt interesting and kinda cool.

We’ll see what happens in the next few days, but for now… I’m excited.

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Group Think

posted by on June 23, 2011 at 09:00 AM
filed under: Social Media

Most infographics don’t get me excited anymore, but this one is different. As we continue to argue the effectiveness and relevance of communities, hunch is doing something more meaningful: figuring out how people think. Study after study tend to show that we rank advice as the highest motivator during decision making… but friends don’t always give the right advice.

Hunch uses community the way we should all be using community, by understanding the relationship between certain choices… and then… offering custom scenarios as individuals input their own data. It is the same idea with Amazon and Netflix, but I’m ready to see this expand beyond retail… sort of.

The other place I’m seeing this happen A LOT is with news and search. And this can be bad. With so much content created each day, it is easy to find an opinion that supports your own specific ideological mindset… Meaning that optimized news will only reinforce your own personal viewpoints rather than offering an something objective. It may be what people want or like at the time, but it doesn’t really help society at large, right?

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Rye Clifton

Senior Strategist :: New York office

site :: I'm on Twitter
site :: I take pictures
site :: I cause trouble on YouTube

F the #FF, Let's have intros

SURPRISE!

Social by Design

Shockoe Forward

8 days without a phone

We're all in this together.

Just Hangin Out

Group Think

It’s gonna be awesome.™