rxdxt

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have... it's about the people you have, how you're led and how much you get it.-S. Jobs

St georges day, dragons, princesses and knights, kids have all the fun!

Oops - appols to facebook people who got spammed this am. Thought I'd disconnected twitter and fb waterfall

Is feeling better - eating a yummy burrito in angel before the flik.

Last press on my CEO announcement last week - but it is the FT - my Dad is quite proud! http://ping.fm/dckws

Taking Zoe to southbank food fair and maybe on a boat ride.

Deciding between fast & furious and watchmen for some sat nite escapism... Suggestions?

Wow my preso from speach at the RSA is popular: http://ping.fm/bM2s5

What an end to a strange - wonderful week - I came home tonight to discover - 50 meg broadband!! yes Virgin delivered!

A really cool project from my RAD team (http://ping.fm/0v89u) re-mix online TV!

For whoever was at the RSA last night and couldn't see my slides - http://ping.fm/FDJ9Q - a wonderful evening.

From Ariel (internal BBC paper)

Titus to leave BBC

Mobile controller and leader of bbc.co.uk redesign heads to commercial sector

Titus takes up 'challenge and career opportunity' to leave BBC Richard Titus, controller of mobile and former head of the team which redesigned bbc.co.uk, is to leave the BBC. Speaking to Ariel online, Titus said that this was one of the most difficult decisions he had ever made. 'I love the BBC, it’s public purpose as well as my team, however, I was presented with an proposal to become the CEO of a large digital business - whose portfolio presented a unique combination of challenge and career opportunity that I couldn’t refuse. 'My work at the BBC I’m most proud of includes: the personalised BBC homepage and mobile homepage and subsequent redesign – which I think led the BBC’s transformation over the past 18 months, and of course the improved user experience of BBC iPlayer – across all of its various platforms.' His role will be filled by Mark Kortekaas, currently chief technology officer for CBS Interactive, who will begin on April 14. Titus will take up a new position as CEO at Associated Northcliffe Digital, part of the Daily Mail group, which runs Mail Online, Standard.co.uk and Metro.co.uk, and the regional and local ‘this is’ network of sites, among other online services. He joined the BBC after leaving the American digital agency, Schematic, which he co-founded. He takes up his new role on July 1. === Very nice actually- 'cept my primary focus is the "pure play" digitral businesses in property, jobs, dating, autos, travel, etc.

I'm celebrating my new job - CEO of Associated Nortcliffe Digital (http://www.AND.co.uk) and mourning my departure from the BBC and my team.

On Vox: Change = good

I have always lived my life counter-cyclically (sic), leaving Razorfish before the .com crash, buying what became Schematic at the bottom of the last .com recession and then leaving the film business after a series of Sundance Film Festival hits.

From the outside, these moves seemed mad, but most of them proved to be quite prescient, and often lucrative.  Moreover, I'm driven by a need to be intellectually and creatively challenged; complacency isn't in my vocabulary.   I love to make things, and build teams - and businesses.

So today, I've made an announcement which will catch many by surprise. I have decided to leave the BBC to join DMGT, a large British media conglomerate to become the CEO of the division which holds their digital businesses, Associated Northcliffe Digital (http://and.co.uk).

I'm incredibly proud of the work I've done over the past two years at the BBC: the redesign and transformation of the www, mobile and itv services, BBC iPlayer on all of its platforms and of course the mobile and online personalized homepages. Doing one of these would have been an achievement in itself.  These successes and their resulting recognition and awards, the GSMA award for mobile BBC iPlayer, the Bafta nomination for /programmes and the .net awards for the redesigns would have been impossible without the amazing teams and people I had by my side at the BBC, I will miss them incredibly.

But for now it's on to the future and a new, much larger challenge, and one I hope and believe will be equally, if not more, stimulating and rewarding.  Given the economic and sector transitions in media, publishing, commerce and technology - I have heard opportunity knocking - and can't help myself but open the door and let her in!

Best

Originally posted on rxdxt.vox.com

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Press Clippings:

http://www.paidcontent.co.uk/entry/419-and-taps-bbcs-titus-as-new-ceo-kangaroos-kortesaas-is-replacement/

http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/rss/897399/DMGT-appoints-Richard-Titus-chief-executive-Associated-Northcliffe-Digital/

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=65000

http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/897399/DMGT-appoints-Richard-Titus-chief-executive-Associated-Northcliffe-Digital/

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/33057/Richard-Titus-leaves-BBC-Mobile-post

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/08/bbc-richard-titus-dmgt

Love the press on our live TV service (part of iPlayer) - but it's been live since November 08?!!!
http://ping.fm/D5vBS

Thinking about a surf vacation in May - any suggestions? I'm considering Bali, Phuket and Australia - want a beginner and Intermediate beach...

On Vox: Getting off the Grid

This week, I took several steps to reduce my carbon footprint in the world.  As some will already know though we've lived in London for bordering on three years, we do not own a car!  Instead in addition to being an avid public transport user (though its not workable for my routes to and from work - as i need to drop the kids off at school) I use a pair of car services Ecoigo and Green Tomato to get from place to place. While it's slightly more than a car payment, when you add parking, congestion charge, gas, insurance and the value of the extra reading/phone time for me in the back, it's pretty much a wash in cost.   More importantly, I have an incredibly low carbon footprint due to the use of a shared vehicle, which also, as a hybrid or electric has an even lower carbon/pollution index. 

However, it's time to buy a car, mostly as the wife and kids want to begin exploring the countryside, and additional parts of Great Britain we've not seen, particularly the north and west (Wales). So the quest for a car begins.  The 1st thing we did was put ourselves on the waiting list (secured place and everything) for a new Tesla S-series (I got to drive a Roadster back pre-release when we made Who Killed the Electric Car? However, the Tesla, even if we manage to get an early one, won't be available until at least 2010.  So we need a car short-term (given that Tavin and I are about to become certified, licensed, UK drivers (my test is next week!). I'd prefer an electric, but just don't fit in a Nice or mini (at 6'2" it just won't work) I'd like to buy a Tesla Roadster, but the wife, kindly pointed out it wasnt' very practical for the kids. So we are still negotiating - any ideas welcome!

Lastly, A few weeks ago when I  was at 3GSMA I stumbled upon a fascinating booth.  The Solio is a combination solar charger and shared battery pack (similar to the Tumi Powerpack) but with power cells.   Now frankly Solar chargers for phones/ipods/(or in those days walkmen) aren't exactly new - I had something similar from an Early Winters catalog in my teens.  But the difference with this one is that it REALLY works.

I've used it on walks in the heath, or o days when I forget to charge my Blackberry/Iphone/iPod and find it indespensible.  With my upcoming surf-adventure, I'm keen to use it in bright sunshine and see if my crackberry habit can lower its carbon footprint.  More on that in the future.

Lastly, I'm giving a speach at a sold out session at the RSA on the future and mobile; topics I particularly love.

 

Originally posted on rxdxt.vox.com