We are very excited to have Jason Kodish of Digitas as our second guest blogger for our Big Data series this month. Jason provides some great insight in to where Big Data is going and the importance of value exchange. Enjoy the post and be sure to keep an eye out for more guest blog posts from the series later this week!

As SVP/North American Lead for Strategy and Analysis at Digitas, Jason Kodish leads a group of over 250 analytics professionals across the country - the largest S&A group of any agency nationwide. With more than 15 years of industry experience, Kodish has worked across a wide range of client industries including financial services, automotive, consumer packaged goods, travel, and more.

Where is Big Data going? The answer lies in Disney World
Why quid pro quo is becoming increasingly important to the world of big data

While researching our impending trip to Disney World, my son Holden came across an interesting new piece of technology from Disney called the MagicBand. The MagicBand embeds a family’s identification, payment mechanism, park tickets, and other information into a simple, disposable bracelet. These bracelets eliminate the need to carry a wallet and minimize the risk of losing important documents. Now, all Holden cares about is that he can wear a bracelet instead of lugging around his embarrassing father around the park and still pay for lunch. But as a marketer, the first thing that came to my mind is the incredible volume and value of the data that can be generated through this new piece of customer service. 

Not only does MagicBand provide great transparency into the full transactional data aggregated into one profile, but hypothetically, it should also be able to understand other customer behaviors – the path you take around the park, time spent in certain areas, shows attended, etc.  And it’s easy to envision Disney* using this data to create in-stay offers through mobile devices or email, post-stay communication, life-time value modeling, and customer segmentation for further marketing materials.  The strategic opportunities here are endless

Please welcome this week's guest blogger; Gerald Kimber White, Senior Managing Director at RF|Binder. Gerald was assigned to Uncharted Play during the MITX Up Hackathon, who recently developed the SOCCKET Ball. Learn more about this innovative product in this article from Co.EXIST! 

Last week, I was scheduled to participate in the latest MITX UP “hackathon” but when Wednesday evening rolled around and I ran through my mental “to do” list – preparing for two new business pitches, our agency’s annual meeting in New York, this week’s SXSWedu in Austin, etc. – part of me felt I should skip it and stay focused on my other obligations. As much as I love going to the hackathons, there was simply no way to get it all in. Fortunately, the selfish side of me that loves the hackathon experience overwhelmed the clock-watching side of me and I went to the Harvard Innovation Lab to meet another startup.

I was particularly looking forward to this hackathon since the startup I was assigned was Uncharted Play, a company that has developed a soccer ball that somehow manages to incorporate a power generator inside an almost perfectly standard size and weight ball. The generator converts the kinetic energy from play into electricity that can be stored to power an LED light (with plans to increase the output to be able to charge cell phones, water purifiers, etc.). The SOCCKET ball is designed for communities in developing countries for whom power supply is inconsistent or non-existent. Basically, SOCCKET combines two of my biggest passions – economic and social development and soccer – in a business model.

Are you a MITX member? Are you a writer? Do you know some stuff about some stuff? WELL! Have we got an opportunity for you.


You may have noticed that  each month we feature an interesting, awesome, and topical series on the blog. You may also have noticed that every one of those posts is guest-written by a MITX member. Well, there are lots more months, and lots more topics, and we want you to get involved! Check out the upcoming series below, and write to Kate (kate@mitx.org) to let her know you're interested - and to find out more.

The Innovation Awards are fast approaching and we've been on the hunt for just the right person to host this year's ceremony. The host is an integral part of the celebration, and we are determined to find just the right person - someone who understands Boston's Innovation Community, someone who's unflappable and fearless, and someone fun who can turn this into a real party!

We captured one of Debi Kleiman's conversations about the search on video. Check it out:

This is the third post in our mobile blog series. Throughout the month of April we'll be featuring posts from some of Boston's most expert thought leaders, answering these questions: "What's happening in mobile right now? What's coming soon?” This post is by Brenna Hanly. Brenna has been at Mullen Boston for four years, where she has served in several digital capacities – as a Digital Media Planner for Zappos.com, as the agency’s first Mobile Catalyst, and currently she works out of the Strategic Planning group in an effort to bring comprehensive digital thinking to the forefront of the creative process.

We’ve become an industry infatuated with technology. From our superhuman worship of Steve Jobs to our scramble to hire the nation’s best creative technologists - anyone who is any good in the marketing industry cannot avoid thinking about, talking about, and dreaming about technology. However, we have been cajoled into confusing technology with true innovation.  We are quick to credit ourselves for being the first to take advantage of a certain technology without regard to the actual consumer experience that we are creating, and mobile is one of the best seductresses.

This is the first post in our UX and design blog series. Throughout the month of March we'll be featuring posts from some of Boston's most expert thought leaders, answering these questions: "How do you see the field of UX/design changing in the new technology landscape? What’s most important to know now?"

This post is part of our February blog series. We asked several thought leaders to respond to this question: "What technology do you love most?" Stay tuned for more posts in this series, and for the upcoming March series on UX/design. This post is by Tom Anderson, President and CEO of Weymouth Design. Tom is interested in how advances in mobile and digital technology, like FFTs, can transform healthcare and interactive design. Find him on Twitter.

A few weeks ago, Nick, one of our video editors, was waiting for the server to compress and crunch his brilliant work into a viewable, transferable, and integrated file. Time was wasting. I had to remind him of the good old days in the late 70s and early 80s, when I was his age, and the long nights were spent lining up tapes and editing in a painful, laborious, and repetitive all-nighter fashion.

Hi awesome MITX members! We have something special we'd like to offer you. The chance to write for our blog! We're amping up the awesome this year by creating a monthly series on the MITX blog, and this offers you a lot of chances to participate.

The "What Technology Do I Love the Most" blog series in February is a going to be a series of blog posts by the leaders in our industry about (you guessed it) technology! Are you a geeky technology-loving MITX member (this is a members only opportunity!) who loves to write? Cool! Write to Kate (kate@mitx.org) and tell her your ideas.

UPDATE:   To learn more about the insights Joi shared at this event, you can also check out these awesome recap blog posts:

-Lauren Landry, Boston Innovation – “Director Joi Ito Opens Up About Why the East Coast Is the Best Coast & The Future of the MIT Media Lab”
-Barb Darrow, GigaOm – “Joi Ito: Open-source hardware is a no brainer”
-Scott  Kirsner, Boston Globe – “Media Lab director Joi Ito talks about the Valley's weaknesses, open technologies, global opportunities, and whether the lab is 'selling itself too cheap'”

Last night’s MassChallenge Awards Ceremony was a great celebration of entrepreneurship and our wonderful Boston startup community. In fact, MassChallenge itself is an amazing startup success story, with only two years under their belt John, Akhil and their team have created something incredible.