Tracking Nairobi on the innovation map

Last summer, the New York Times examined Nairobi as an innovation hub, asking the question, “Inside Nairobi, the next Palo Alto?” Perhaps the comparison was a bit of a stretch, but it did recognize Central Africa as ripe with potential. Even IBM, along with other large tech companies, finally included African countries in their definition of emerging markets, exploring sustainable economic development in the region.

Having lived in Nairobi during the seventies, my memories of it are mostly of my family navigating political chaos, until we finally left in 1979. So I’m particularly interested in learning about new developments there — beyond the lightweight apps that the lucky few with Net access are able to commercialize.

While there hasn’t been much coverage about it lately, a blog I’ve been following to learn more about developments in Africa is Shashank Bengali’s Somewhere in Africa, where he covers innovation, business, politics, and snippits of life in the continent, through a journalist’s eye.

Debunking social media myths

Here’s a good summary from BusinessWeek Debunking Six Social Media Myths. While we probably already knew this to some degree, it’s all too easy to get caught up in the social media hype. The article touches on these myths:

1. Social media is cheap, if not free.
2. Anyone can do it.
3. You can make a big splash in a short time.
4. You can do it all in-house.
5. If you do something great, people will find it.
6. You can’t measure social media marketing results.

Tweeting the path to a Korean BBQ taco

How’s this for social media at work?  The latest twist on L.A. fusion is the Kogi Korean BBQ taco truck. Every night, the Kogi truck parks in a new location and its ardent followers find it via Twitter updates. Even for Angelenos who are used to excellent Korean and Mexican food, this has become a word-of-mouth sensation. There’s certainly no other place that I know of to get Korean BBQ on a taco. Hundreds are following the tweets, overtaking the hordes we’re used to seeing at Pink’s Hot Dogs. Still, it may be worth the wait (and signing up for Twitter) for this unique flavor excursion.

More electronica: Kyoto Jazz Massive

If you liked the electronic grooves of The Shanghai Restoration Project, you may also like one of my old favorites: Kyoto Jazz Massive, still going strong, with a new release in January 2009–very soulful and jazzy. You can preview some KJM tracks on MySpace.