Mind Soup

I was invited to speak at the 4th Arabian Social Media Forum in Kuwait last week. I spoke about some case studies that reflected the state of social media in the Middle East. In my presentation, I discussed successful campaigns from Lebanon, UAE, KSA, Jordan and Egypt. I have also included examples of bad conduct from brands and celebrities on social media, in addition to examples of really bad (ugly) examples of social media customer service from Lebanon and Kuwait. Some key takeaways from the presentation: A simple campaign can go viral for a long time if implemented properly. (# MyDubai ) Negative content spreads much faster than positive content. Campaigns that use negative content in a smart way can take advantage of this with a smaller advertising budget. (Ugliest Couch campaign) You must know and study your demographic before you launch an online campaign. (Samsung Levant's Secret Valentine) With a small budget, small businesses can hugely increase their sales wh...

Omar Christidis is the Founder and CEO of ArabNet, the leading events and media company focused on the Arab web and mobile industry. ArabNet organizes the leading conferences for the digital sector in the MENA region, including the ArabNet Digital Summit, the premier international gathering for Arab digital professionals and entrepreneurs. The Summit was held for the fourth time in Dubai in June 2013 and brought together more than 800 attendees from 35 countries and received more than 9,100 tweets and 42,800 hits on the live-steam.   In 2012, Omar was selected by GulfNews Magazine as one of its “30 under 30" list. He is a graduate of Yale University and the Co-Founder of the Yale Arab Alumni Association.   At the last ArabNet Beirut, the issue of language of the conference was raised. Why do you think it is better for the conference to be conducted in English in both Dubai and Beirut? ArabNet Beirut and the Digital Summit are held in English because of the signific...

AP : A Saudi judge has asked several hospitals in the country whether they could damage a man's spinal cord as punishment after he was convicted of attacking another man with a cleaver and paralyzing him, the brother of the victim said Thursday. Abdul-Aziz al-Mutairi, 22, was left paralyzed and subsequently lost a foot after a fight more than two years ago. He asked a judge in northwestern Tabuk province to impose an equivalent punishment on his attacker under Islamic law, his brother Khaled al-Mutairi told The Associated Press by telephone from there. He said one of the hospitals, located in Tabuk, responded that it is possible to damage the spinal cord, but it added that the operation would have to be done at another more specialized facility. Saudi newspapers reported that a second hospital in the capital Riyadh declined, saying it could not inflict such harm. Administrative offices of two of the hospitals and the court in Tabuk were closed for the Saudi weekend beginning ...

PC WORLD : Saudi Arabia has ordered the suspension of Research in Motion's BlackBerry service as of Friday, as it does not meet current regulations, according to the country's telecommunications regulator. The suspension will cover all services, including e-mail and instant messaging, said an official from the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), who requested not to be named. He did not specify what were the current local regulations that BlackBerry did not comply with. The CITC has meanwhile instructed three mobile service providers in the kingdom to discontinue the BlackBerry service, the official said. These are Etihad Etisalat, which uses the brand name Mobily, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and Zain Saudi Arabia. The operators had been asked over a year ago to ensure that the BlackBerry service complied with local rules, he said. RIM's BlackBerry service has come under scrutiny from regulators in other countries as well. BlackBerry's s...

The following article is extracted from Debbe Schlussel's blog and is only presented to you here for humor purposes. [ via ] May 16, 2010, - 11:38 pm Donald Trump, Dhimmi: Miss Hezbollah Rima Fakih Wins Miss USA; Rigged for Muslima? Miss Oklahoma’s Arizona Immigration Answer By  Debbie Schlussel It’s a sad day in America but a very predictable one, given the politically correct, Islamo-pandering climate in which we’re mired.  The  Hezbollah-supporting Shi’ite Muslim, Miss Michigan Rima Fakih – whose bid for the pageant was financed by an Islamic terrorist and immigration fraud perpetrator –won the Miss USA contest. I was on top of this story before anyone,  telling you about who Fakih is  and  her extremist and deadly ties . Rima Fakih: Miss Hezbollah is Now Miss USA No, it’s not “just another beauty pageant.”  Donald Trump, Muslims (who mostly support Islamic terrorist groups, like Hezbollah, which features many of Fakih’s close relatives as t...

نشرت صحيفة عرب تايمز الاماراتية باللغة الانجليزية اول امس الاول ان السعودية والإمارات والبحرين رفضت قبول ترشيح باكستان سفيرا لها وكان السبب الذي لم تفهمه الدبلوماسية الباكستانية هو اسم العائلة للسفير الذي يعني في العربية ما يستقبح ذكره ، وهو العضو الذكري ولعبت الظنون بها لاتهام امريكا بالضغط على السعودية ودول الخليج . التفاصيل : تحدثت مصادر دبلوماسية إماراتية مطلعة لعرب تايمز عن ان التوتر القائم حاليا بين الباكستان ودول مجلس التعاون الخليجي لا يمكن اعتباره امتدادا للتوتر القائم بين الباكستان والولايات المتحدة وانما يعود سبب التوتر العربي الباكستاني الى رفض دول مجلس التعاون قبول أوراق اعتماد ( اكبر زب ) كسفير باكستاني جديد لعدة دول في مجلس التعاون دون ابداء الاسباب ... وكانت الحكومة الباكستانية قد قررت تعيين ( اكبر زب ) سفيرا في الامارات ولكن طلبها قوبل بالرفض .. فحاولت تعيينه في البحرين فرفض طلبها ولما بعثت تستمزج السعودية في احتمال تعيينه سفيرا لها في السعودية جاء الرفض السعودي مثل الاماراتي والبحريني غير مبررا ولم يوضح الأسباب مما دفع الحكومة الباكستانية الى الاعتقاد ان هناك ...