Everyone knows Mark Zuckerberg’s name and and if you live in Silcon Valley, you likely know a handful of other senior level Facebook execs as well.
In Kentucky, that’s not the case, nor is it the case in other parts of the world.
I was surprised I had not run into Boston-based Kevin Calleran, Facebook’s 7th employee in my circles before now….now being this past week in of all places, Kentucky. That said, I met the CTO of the White House for the first time in Louisville at Idea Festival’s annual event – same time, same place a year ago.
Kevin did a l’il history of Facebook to a less social media savvy crowd than he may be accustomed to in Silicon Valley or Boston. Most people in the room were Facebook users however, which was a mix of high school and college students, academics, innovators, technologists, researchers, artists and local business owners.
Kevin’s a natural sales guy and no surprise that its his background and raison d’etre. He’s a great storyteller and adds a lot of humor throughout his talk, all done in a very informal style.
In the early days, he ran the East Coast office out of his New York City apartment for months before meeting Zuckerberg for the first time. He laughed as he shared stories of the first two years, most of which captured humorous early stage moments.
He moved onto memories….you know, the Facebook kind. Showing a video of a Facebook employee who captured every moment of his life in his timeline (from birth and graduation to marriage, his child being born and beyond, Kevin notes that his only recollection of his grandparents is the four black and white photos in his house.
While he’s no longer officially at Facebook, he’s certain still a positive spokesperson for the company. He says of Mark’s vision: “Mark never wants ‘that to ever happen again. Mark feels that every piece of our life should be chronicled.”
He then went deeper into the company’s history, what Facebook was and where it is today. A few of the latest stats according to Kevin’s data:
- There are now 955 million active users
- Instagram just passed 100 million users
- 552 million daily active users on average
- 543 million monthly active users who used Facebook mobile products in June 2012
- Facebook is now translated into over 85 languages and has nearly 4,000 employees.
He showed the game that was created over a forty hour period and how Facebook was thereafter translated into 85+ languages. When they launched the translation app, 95% of the site got translated into French in less than 24 hours.
He also heavily encouraged hackathons and believes every company should do them. He says that some of the best products they have ever shipped have come from an all nighter coding event. In other words, “academics meet coder types all night long and great ideas have come out of it.”
In addition to a trend of people moving to more of an ‘asset-free life,’ he shared some of the Emerging Themes are in technology:
Mobile:
- Rent or lease only: rather than own something, almost everthing is available to lease or rent, so there’s a trend away from owning material things.
- The world is moving mobile. 31.5% of U.S. households are mobile only and users log on an average of 77 minutes per day using apps on their smartphone.
- 40% of Facebook’s traffic is mobile-specific.
Transportation Reinvented:
- Uber (see my review on Uber when it launched in Paris)
- Parking Panda (shows nearby parking garages and space availability)
- Lyft (ride-share program)
Rental Culture:
- Zip car (rent by the hour for when you need it)
- Airbnb (is doing a million room nights, people are renting out their homes while they’re on the road)
- Spotify (there’s no reason to own music anymore when you can pay $10 a month to have access to any music you want)
Distributed Workforce: (technology enabled entrepreneurship/self employment & task entrepreneurs)
- Task Rabbit (you can outsource work to people who can do a task for you within your zip code)
- Cherry (a new request a car wash app. The idea is that you park your car at work or home and you put up the address where your car is parked and someone will come and wash your car for you)
- Instacart (you can get people to your shopping for you)
Renee Blodgett is the Founder and Managing Editor of We Blog the World, a global travel, culture and lifestyle publication exploring the world through the lens of meaningful experiences, human connection and cultural depth. Having lived in 10 countries and traveled to 95, Renee has spent much of her life immersed in the people, traditions, landscapes and ideas that shape how we experience the world.
Since launching We Blog the World in 2007, she has written and produced extensive editorial coverage spanning boutique and luxury travel, culinary experiences, arts and culture, wellness, adventure, technology, spiritual traditions and transformative travel. Her work is rooted in the belief that travel is about more than where we go—it is also about what a place, culture or encounter awakens within us.
Renee brings more than three decades of experience across journalism, photography, media, brand strategy, technology, wellness and global storytelling. She has worked with companies and organizations around the world on brand positioning, communications, product launches, media strategy, speaker positioning and storytelling. Through Blue Soul Media, she works with authors, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and purpose-driven brands to clarify their message and expand their impact, which includes speaker coaching/training for high-profile stages such as TED and bringing authors’ work to market while retaining authors rights.
She is also the co-founder of Blue Soul Earth, an educational platform exploring consciousness, ancient wisdom, spirituality, healing and the intersection between science and the nature of reality. Renee is the producer and host of the award-winning Blue Soul CHATS, a conversational series bringing together leading voices in science, technology, consciousness, wellness and spirituality.
Her growing body of work also includes Blue Soul Living, which extends her interest in consciousness and well-being into the spaces we inhabit, exploring how intentional design, energy and environment can support greater harmony and connection.
Renee is the award-winning co-author of the bestselling Magdalene’s Journey and founder of the Magdalene Collection, inspired by women’s voices, stories and wisdom across cultures and generations.
A longtime photographer and storyteller, Renee has documented people, places and cultures around the world and produced photographic collections focused on destinations including the Galápagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome and Ecuador. She also co-founded Traveling Geeks, an international initiative that brought entrepreneurs, journalists, creators and technology leaders together with their counterparts in other countries to exchange ideas and explore innovation across cultures.
Renee’s work has been recognized by Forbes, the United Nations and others for her influence in media and social storytelling. Across her work in travel, media, consciousness and culture, a common thread remains: curiosity about the world, the stories that connect us and the ways meaningful experiences can change how we see ourselves and one another.
