Nice shout out in Rob Walker’s Consumed Column in the Sunday NY Times Magazine, in an article entitled Timeless Object. Thanks Rob! The absurd-sounding Abacus watch with its little rolling ball might make you "miss appointments" but it's likely to "get some attention," commented a writer on one such site, JoshSpear.com. "Sweet." And really, if you're the alpha-consumer type who craves such a watch, surely you tote a mobile to tell the actual time — and to call whomever you're meeting to explain that you'll be late. Again.
Josh Spear, who writes about trends in technology, fashion and culture on JoshSpear.com, said he came to Pop!Tech on a friend’s recommendation as a way to meet other creative people.
Spear said what makes Pop!Tech exciting is the spreading and exchanging of ideas.
“Equally as good as the speakers are the people who attend the conference,” he said. “You can feel confident that anybody you bump shoulders with waiting for something will have something interesting to say
As promised my presentation last week at Google Zeitgeist is now online for your viewing pleasure– the fine group at Google did an extraordinary job editing and posting the video to YouTube. It was truly an honor to speak alongside such an incredible lineup of presenters, and a lot of fun talking about the work side of my life which I really keep out of this blog most of the time. Also be sure to check out the interview with Michael and Xochi Birch as I’m on the panel during that discussion as well. And of course, if you enjoy it feel free to leave a comment here and give me 5 stars on YouTube! I look forward to reactions!
LOOKING for a cool new way to wrap those boring Christmas presents? Then what you may need is rapping paper, which is imprinted with the lyrics of rap songs and is sure to be popular in avant-garde American households this year, writes Tony Allen-Mills. The latest trend in gift-giving was identified last week by Josh Spear, a 22-year-old Colorado student who has become one of America's leading "cool hunters", a new breed of internet-based trendspotter whose job is to track down cool new products before everyone tries to copy them. Full article here, or after the jump READ MORE…
After growing tiresome of traditional academia and journalism's narrow view of the blogsphere, Josh Spear took it upon himself to create his own bog, Joshspear.com. In barely two years, his blog has become a daily destination for inspiration for industry execs and culture junkies alike. PSFK had the opportunity to chat with Josh and get his take on the current state of independent publishing and here more about his new consulting agency called Spear Creative Group and its digital marketing counterpart SparkMedium. Click here to read the full interview.
Josh Spear: If you have a teenager in your house or a hip youngster in your life, this is THE site for you. Along with sites like Coolhunting, Josh Spear tracks trends for a living (which is really impressive considering he’s only 22) and even consults with brands like McDonalds to tell them what’s hot for the younger set. (Both sites can be a bit masculine so keep these in mind when shopping for a hip younger nephew or cousin in your life). Read the full article here.
If you are looking to successfully engage with the urban market, you have to consider how to position your brand in such a way that its consumption increases young adults’ status in youth culture. Brands that successfully enhance urban capital have to know not only what to communicate, but how. Knowledge: Don’t dismiss blogs as being the personal ramblings of extroverts. Visit sites like www.coolhunting.com, www.newstoday.com and www.joshspear.com. Full article at TheAge.com
On sneakerplay.com, men outnumber women by eight to one, creating an online fratmosphere thick with testosterone, egos and shoe rubber. Like sneaker peacocks, members from around the world flaunt their footwear in photo galleries and boast an inventory of friends on their personal profiles. Full Article Here
In an effort to reach the “creative class” online, GSD&M, which also handles media, is placing ads on sites such as www.theonion.com, www.gawker.com, www.joshspear.com, www.gothamist.com and www.weblogs.com. GSD&M won the $180 million account in November. Full Article Here
When Josh Spear talks trends, companies pay big bucks to hear what he has to say. Cool just isn't cool anymore. At least according to Josh Spear a 21-year-old college dropout and self-described "brand ambassador." "Maybe it'll make a comeback in a few years," Spear said. "For now I've basically eliminated the word from my site." That Web site, or more specifically blog, is http://joshspear.com and is the product of one of the most pre-eminent trend spotters today. It's being watched closely by some of the biggest names in the business world who have a vested interest in the next big thing. Full Article Here
There’s a nice cover article about me and this site in the Weekend Post today throughout Canada. Last weekend it was Canadian Radio, this week it’s a newspaper– I guess I’m really stepping up my image in the friendly-land. A warm welcome to all my new friends in Canada! Writer Karen Burshtein did a great job covering elements of my site–and work-life that haven’t been touched on much in past press. Thanks to Robert Thoren for the great photos, and all the people who had kind words to share about me in the article. Unfortunately you need to be a subscriber to view it on the National Post website– But you can try this link which seems to work for people without logging in. I’ll have a PDF created for download shortly!
Note: For some reason people, even after clarification, seem to think I worked for Nike. Although I do have friends within the Nike Campus and have been in touch with them about a variety of things, they’ve never been a client of mine. I think it was the Nike iD design contest and invitation to 255 Elizabeth that keeps throwing people off.
Want to hear a quite possibly very entertaining interview with yours truly on the radio? I did an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that’s airing this Saturday on the ‘Definitely Not The Opera‘ show with radio host Sook-Yin Lee between 1 and 2pm EST. There are several ways to listen to it– if you have Sirius Satellite Radio tune into channel 137– if you’re in the frozen land of Canada check out this massive map to find out what frequency it will be broadcasted on– and of course if you’re online you can stream it through Windows Media Player or Ogg Vorbis– just select something in the ‘East’ time zone and you should be all set. If you miss it don’t worry, I’ll get a copy to share.
Update: Well, I don’t remember my repsonses being in that specific order, minus a few wrong ‘facts’ in their intro (Nike a client?), and cutting it down to only a few minutes, it turned out all right! If you missed it you can check out my 5 minutes of fame here: Listen to the MP3
I recently did an interview with Doug Brown from the Denver Post– he turned out to be a really great guy and we spent some time together talking about everything I was up to. He wrote a nice little feature about me in today’s Post on the cover of the Lifestyle section. The feature does a pretty nice job talking about the bigger picture of what I’m up to with Spear Consulting and a peak at how JoshSpear.com works. Thanks for the opportunity Doug!
A special welcome to all the Time Magazine readers visiting my site. If you didn’t see it yet, this weeks Time has a great article on cool hunting and trend spotting in which I’m featured. It’s called “Messengers Of Cool: How new digital networks help hipsters around the globe hunt for the next big thing. ” I was in good company, the article by Jeremy Caplan featured my site along side a few others, like my friend Bill over at The Cool Hunter, and of course Reinier Evers amazing site and excellent resource Trendwatching.com.
”There’s a silent etiquette, I think, where most people in the community look for individual content because there’s probably a huge overlap between readership,” says Josh Spear, 21, of Boulder, Colo., who runs www.JoshSpear.com. ”I always give credit and it brings reciprocal traffic. Our sites attract different people.” Full Article Here
Nice shout out in Rob Walker’s Consumed Column in the Sunday NY Times Magazine, in an article entitled Timeless Object. Thanks Rob!
LOOKING for a cool new way to wrap those boring Christmas presents? Then what you may need is rapping paper, which is imprinted with the lyrics of rap songs and is sure to be popular in avant-garde American households this year, writes Tony Allen-Mills. The latest trend in gift-giving was identified last week by Josh Spear, a 22-year-old Colorado student who has become one of America's leading "cool hunters", a new breed of internet-based trendspotter whose job is to track down cool new products before everyone tries to copy them. 
After growing tiresome of traditional academia and journalism's narrow view of the blogsphere, Josh Spear took it upon himself to create his own bog, Joshspear.com. In barely two years, his blog has become a daily destination for inspiration for industry execs and culture junkies alike. PSFK had the opportunity to chat with Josh and get his take on the current state of independent publishing and here more about his new consulting agency called Spear Creative Group and its digital marketing counterpart SparkMedium. 
Josh Spear: If you have a teenager in your house or a hip youngster in your life, this is THE site for you. Along with sites like Coolhunting, Josh Spear tracks trends for a living (which is really impressive considering he’s only 22) and even consults with brands like McDonalds to tell them what’s hot for the younger set. (Both sites can be a bit masculine so keep these in mind when shopping for a hip younger nephew or cousin in your life). 
If you are looking to successfully engage with the urban market, you have to consider how to position your brand in such a way that its consumption increases young adults’ status in youth culture. Brands that successfully enhance urban capital have to know not only what to communicate, but how. Knowledge: Don’t dismiss blogs as being the personal ramblings of extroverts. Visit sites like www.coolhunting.com, www.newstoday.com and www.joshspear.com. Full article at 
In an effort to reach the “creative class” online, GSD&M, which also handles media, is placing ads on sites such as www.theonion.com, www.gawker.com, www.joshspear.com, www.gothamist.com and www.weblogs.com. GSD&M won the $180 million account in November. 
When Josh Spear talks trends, companies pay big bucks to hear what he has to say. Cool just isn't cool anymore. At least according to Josh Spear a 21-year-old college dropout and self-described "brand ambassador." "Maybe it'll make a comeback in a few years," Spear said. "For now I've basically eliminated the word from my site." That Web site, or more specifically blog, is http://joshspear.com and is the product of one of the most pre-eminent trend spotters today. It's being watched closely by some of the biggest names in the business world who have a vested interest in the next big thing. 
”There’s a silent etiquette, I think, where most people in the community look for individual content because there’s probably a huge overlap between readership,” says Josh Spear, 21, of Boulder, Colo., who runs www.JoshSpear.com. ”I always give credit and it brings reciprocal traffic. Our sites attract different people.” 
