Mark Evans

The End of Ze Frank..of the Beginning?

One of the Web’s most creative - and unique - shows has come to an end with Ze Frank’s final episode -a strangely emotional farewell given Ze Frank’s confident demeanour). (Hat tip to Will Pate). I saw Ze Frank in action last November at ad-tech in New York where he attracted a SRO audience for a panel while causing a buzz in the meda room. One thing Ze definitely has in spades is presence, which should keep him in good stead whatever he does next. Good luck, Ze.

One more thought: there’s a lot of talk about the democratization of the Web, and how the barriers to entry within the media industry have been been eliminated given anyone can become their own publisher within a matter of minutes. In many ways, Ze Frank is a perfect example of this thesis in action. A year ago, he had no public profile. Now, he’s a media superstar. Not bad for a guy talking into a camera for a couple minutes every day! Of course, Ze has talent and was able to build an audience in a short period of time. But the reality is there’s plenty of room for lots of other Zes to jump into the spotlight - whether it’s for 15 minutes or 15 years. With a global distribution platform available to anyone, the gap between obscurity and fame can be pretty small if the stars and moon align properly.

Update: Speaking of people who have emerged on the Web scene out of nowhere, TechCrunch major domo Mike Arrington has made a huge strategic step forward by hiring Fox’s Heather Harde as TechCrunch’s CEO.  Rob Hyndman has some thoughts, and looks forward to Arrington’s keynote at the mesh conference.