Ziad.com – The Old blog of Ziad Hussain

The official sunrise in New York City is reported to occur at 5:57 am. I will be here to see it from LaGuardia. Soon after, I will been on a plane toward Chicago, and time will nearly stop while I’m in the air.

The ‘city that never sleeps’ easily earns such a reputation. In Chicago I’m a night owl, but in New York I’m just normal. Very few places in this world can you order a sandwich at 3am and have the clerk assume you are sober.

New York is a city of extreme savvy. Subway riders can intertwine words intertwined with expletive and eloquence in a fashion that is unsurpassed anywhere.

General boarding begins…

Well, it looks like the world is awakening to something that has been happening for a long time.  First I noticed Hugh MacLeod detailed the concept of The Global Microbrand back in October of ‘05.  MacLeod described the concept as:

“A small, tiny brand, that “sells” all over the world.

The Global Microbrand is nothing new; they’ve existed for a while,
long before the Internet was  invented. Imagine a well-known author or
painter, selling his work all over the world. Or a small whisky
distillery in Scotland. Or a small cheese maker in rural France, whose
produce is exported to Paris, London, Tokyo etc. Ditto with a violin
maker in Italy. A classical guitar maker in Spain. Or a small English firm making $50,000 shotguns.”

However, MacLeod is a savvy talking head who I expect to be aware of such trends.  He is a pioneer.  He existed and exists in the mainstream marketing culture, but openly acknowledges the changes that are coming.  He sees the mashup between marketing/technology/culture/counterculture/art and realized we’ve got a new phenomenon on our hands.

Now it is time for the mainstream to acknowledge this once and for all, and for corporations to come up with a better strategy than simply copying the Microbrands.  The signs that the concept is going mainstream can be seen in last weeks New York Times article “The Brand Underground.”

Check out the article.  If you are an industry insider, and this is news to you, it might be time to make a mad dash for the train platform before it totally passes you by.

Momochicago was a good time today.  Lots of smart people talking about the future of mobile computing.  I feel some momentum behind all of these events and there is a snowball effect beginning to happen.  Also what has been great is most of the events have been attended by some people with real clout in the industry.  Christy Wyatt VP of Ecosystem Development Motorola Mobile Devices spoke at tonights momochicago meeting and was very forward thinking about the future of mobile computing.  Motorola is putting money where it’s mouth is and promoting Linux as THE open platform for mobile computing.  Christy did mention that Windows based portables are still very much in the picture, but that Motorola would really like to see a platform that would give developers more versatility across platforms and make good on the promises and premises that Java never fully delivered on.  Interesting times we live in!

Lately I’ve noticed a new trend in gonzo journalism in blogs. Someone puts out an article or review of an event, and it turns out that they were actually a big part of the even themselves. If you disclose that this is the case, I think that is fine. It is unethical however if you report with a style of non-bias when in fact you changed the course of the events significantly. If this blog has a gonzo post, i’ll be the first to let you know.

Here Here for innnovation!

Be there, or be some curmugeonly old fashioned talking head whose job will be obsolete in 5 years (if you’re lucky)

Big Box retailer isn’t afraid to show some pride. Does this signal a new era of marketing, or does it inspire boycotts?

I’ve got so much to publish for everyone. This picture is literally how many stickies I have blown through this past week. It was my birthday and also I have a friend in town for the week, and a new MacBook. Expect updates soon!

Ok, I admit it. I’m a sucker for concept shops. This week the apple of my eye is Wow Bao. I’ve been a repeat customer since I first laid eyes on this Michigan Avenue wonder.

Bao are buns. Hot asian buns. We are not talking about a new kind of bukkake here. Rather, Wow Bao serves the kind of Bao that are steamed dough balls filled with my favorite pan asian cuisines. The selection ranges from vegetarian, to mongolian beef, to everything in-between.

Going to Wow Bao might not be as adventurous as heading down to cermak, and down in Chinatown bao sell for about a third of the cost. However, i’ll pay for the luxury of getting my Bao stuffed with americanized fluff. What is wrong with enjoying both?

Not doing a damn thing.

For every “i forgot to saves” I put under the pillow, she gives me a shoddy crop job and despeckle done in 10 minutes.