Disclosures
I have decided to create this page to disclose any potential conflicts of interest and disclose gifts, benefits-in-kind, etc – and to reiterate the independence of my writing.
With the rise of paid-for blog posts in the blogosphere and bloggers sometimes gaining financial interests in entities they write about, I have decided it is important to declare my position on these too.
This is effective Nov 1st 2006, last updated Jul 3rd 2008
Professional interests
I am an independent consultant currently engaged with social networking site MySpace in San Francisco and Los Angeles. I am advising them on their platform/API project, including their support and involvement of Google’s OpenSocial specification.
I am directly involved with the creation of the OpenSocial specification and as such out of professionalism, along with certain NDA agreements currently in place, limit my ability to comment upon the project publicly.
I provide consultancy to user-generated video conversation start-up Seesmic, where I work in a technical product development capacity.
I am an advisory board member of Apture, whose product enables bloggers and site owners to add rich media experience and background information to their pages in a simple and easy-to-use manner.
Advertising disclosure
This blog does not carry advertising or sponsorship.
Posting policy
I write about topics that interest me, both personally and professionally. I do not participate in any pay-for-post type programs nor do I accept money, gifts or any other such payment in return for posting on a particular topic.
My blog is independent from my client work. I do not write posts upon the solicitation of my clients, although I reserve the right to decide to write about my client work where I believe it has merit or is of interest.
Financial interests
I hold a nominal value of shares in TMN Group plc, a UK based online direct marketing firm publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange.
I hold options and/or stock in Seesmic and Apture.
Other interests
I am not a member of any political organization, charity or professional body.
As a former long-serving BBC employee I am passionate about the values of the BBC, and its importance in modern media and wider society. I continue to promote the work of the BBC – and criticize it when appropriate.
Gifts and benefits-in-kind
The following is a list of all gifts or benefits-in-kind that I have received that I believe to be over the value of $30. It does not include food or drink at parties/events, particularly as I do not drink alcohol.
- Apple iPhone and complimentary conference ticket for speaking at Office2.0 Conference (Aug 2007)
- Complimentary ticket to Chingwag Live Mobile event (Feb 2007)
- XBox controller for Windows, by Microsoft (Nov 2006)
- 40gig external hard drive, by Microsoft (Nov 2006)
- Awarded a 32″ LCD TV as a prize at Yahoo! Hack Day, by Sharp/Yahoo! (Oct 2006)
- Loan of a Lenovo IBM X60s ThinkPad laptop, by Lenovo (Aug 2006)
- LG ‘Chocolate’ mobile phone, by LG (May 2006)
- XBox 360, by Microsoft (May 2006)
- Complimentary ticket to Mix06, by Microsoft (Mar 2006)
This list does not include items obtained via public offers, competitions or promotions, through which I applied or participated simply as a member of the public. These include free software giveaways, raffles/prize draws, etc.
