Seems very similar to the site where freelancers post about clients that don't pay. That one sat at the top for a long time. Just a different set of actors here.
Thom, I appreciate your opinion and thanks for your contribution.
Let me clarify the confusion: Auston published an infographic/ad that favorably represented his conference versus some of the competition (including Calicanis' Launch). Calicanis was contacted via email to correct the issue which was ignored. He then contacts TNW's parent company to mute the "unfavorable" ad. Auston describes his perception of the problem.
It just so happens that Calicanis is a prominent figure of the hacker community, hence the potential interest to HN. Two emails were sent to him which were ignored. Do you really think a phone call is going to be additionally productive?
I don't know if it would and of course you are right that he is prominent. Think I just somehow is sadned by the personal nature.
I think most people are well aware of JC's at times dubious nature. I just don't think it's really important for me. But sure if you feel it's important I certainly won't deny you the right.
Thank you for the kind word, but please allow me to offer a little more detail about the shoes I wear.
As a native Floridian, local hacker and community contributor; we are struggling to develop a better ecosystem in our area. And when I say struggling I mean: fighting to find a consistent membership to attend meetups, traveling long distances to support each other's projects and groups, coordinating events and efforts to maximize exposure for EACH event we organize (since the available attention in our local market is spread VERY thin), and working hard to gain the attention of other communities/groups/media to keep growing.
I can guarantee that the amount of effort we have to invest to get things accomplished here in South Florida as compared to that in more successful communities (SF, NY, Boston, Austin, etc) is a ratio that not in our favor. So when Calicanis suggests to one of SuperConf's media partners that the infographic is misleading and ignores the efforts that Auston made to correct the situation, that's not just another injustice by Jason Calicanis; that's him using his connections in the valley to defeat a small competing conference's attempts for exposure.
In light of the fact that Auston Bunsen (SuperConf organizer) attempted to correct the issue directly, is it right that Jason Calicanis used his connections to squelch an ad for a competing conference (which gets small percentage of the social clout that his own Launch conference generates)?
I don't think there's anything wrong with the infographic/advertisement. You'd expect an ad to highlight favorable comparisons. The footnotes were small, but they were still quite legible. And Jason points out that this year it's $500 (though he omits that it goes back to $1.5k after the first 100 tables go) but the comparisons were against last year's numbers.
If there was information on how many companies will get funded / covered in 2012, I'd gladly update. But there is no way for me to predict the numbers for these conferences in 2012 (especially for the ones that have not announced anything) other than price to participate.
It is funny that the author calls Jason Calicanis a bully when he pays him homage with the entire content of the blog, slightly-misleading facts and figures, dragging competitors in a fight of words, catchy headline...
I really dislike that "info graphic". I dislike most infographics though, so it's no surprise, but:
* I don't know what the story is, the graphic doesn't tell one
* The cute ninja guy isn't me, and I don't understand what he's pointing at
* There are 25 points of information on the whole thing
* Most of the text is too small to read
* If I'm not familiar with the logos, I can't understand what they represent
* The "conf" in "Super Conf" is basically invisible on the light grey background
So really it's just two tables in non-web fonts with no explanation. I didn't even notice the post at first I was so confused by the infographic.
I apologize for the harshness to whoever made that image, but this is the "25 numbers that Jason Calicanis doesn't want you to see" plus a sort-of ad for some conference. Present it like that and it's way more honest and not just hanging on to the infographic fad.
The infographic was conveniently confusing the price to pitch at the event (for launch, it's free), with the price to get an exhibitor table.
Let's say it was misleading on purpose. Author gets heat for doing so, and uses the heat to get more buzz. Good PR overall I guess, but one more person I'll be reluctant to work with in the future.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 43.1 ms ] threadHe said, she said. Guess someone needed the attention. Personally I finished the article and is as confused as I was in the beginning.
What does this have to do with anything?
Here is an idea. Pick up the phone call him and talk it out.
I am sure JC is annoying but seriously.
Let me clarify the confusion: Auston published an infographic/ad that favorably represented his conference versus some of the competition (including Calicanis' Launch). Calicanis was contacted via email to correct the issue which was ignored. He then contacts TNW's parent company to mute the "unfavorable" ad. Auston describes his perception of the problem.
It just so happens that Calicanis is a prominent figure of the hacker community, hence the potential interest to HN. Two emails were sent to him which were ignored. Do you really think a phone call is going to be additionally productive?
I think most people are well aware of JC's at times dubious nature. I just don't think it's really important for me. But sure if you feel it's important I certainly won't deny you the right.
It just feels so below a person like you.
As a native Floridian, local hacker and community contributor; we are struggling to develop a better ecosystem in our area. And when I say struggling I mean: fighting to find a consistent membership to attend meetups, traveling long distances to support each other's projects and groups, coordinating events and efforts to maximize exposure for EACH event we organize (since the available attention in our local market is spread VERY thin), and working hard to gain the attention of other communities/groups/media to keep growing.
I can guarantee that the amount of effort we have to invest to get things accomplished here in South Florida as compared to that in more successful communities (SF, NY, Boston, Austin, etc) is a ratio that not in our favor. So when Calicanis suggests to one of SuperConf's media partners that the infographic is misleading and ignores the efforts that Auston made to correct the situation, that's not just another injustice by Jason Calicanis; that's him using his connections in the valley to defeat a small competing conference's attempts for exposure.
I don't think there's anything wrong with the infographic/advertisement. You'd expect an ad to highlight favorable comparisons. The footnotes were small, but they were still quite legible. And Jason points out that this year it's $500 (though he omits that it goes back to $1.5k after the first 100 tables go) but the comparisons were against last year's numbers.
So what's the problem, Mr. Calicanis?
And If JC doesn't like that label than JC suck up and find a better label to emulate!
If there was information on how many companies will get funded / covered in 2012, I'd gladly update. But there is no way for me to predict the numbers for these conferences in 2012 (especially for the ones that have not announced anything) other than price to participate.
* I don't know what the story is, the graphic doesn't tell one
* The cute ninja guy isn't me, and I don't understand what he's pointing at
* There are 25 points of information on the whole thing
* Most of the text is too small to read
* If I'm not familiar with the logos, I can't understand what they represent
* The "conf" in "Super Conf" is basically invisible on the light grey background
So really it's just two tables in non-web fonts with no explanation. I didn't even notice the post at first I was so confused by the infographic.
I apologize for the harshness to whoever made that image, but this is the "25 numbers that Jason Calicanis doesn't want you to see" plus a sort-of ad for some conference. Present it like that and it's way more honest and not just hanging on to the infographic fad.
Let's say it was misleading on purpose. Author gets heat for doing so, and uses the heat to get more buzz. Good PR overall I guess, but one more person I'll be reluctant to work with in the future.