We frequently hear complaints that a critical event should have been avoided, but groups of people were unable to "connect the dots." The problem expressed here is that the dots are all available in various repositories, but there was no way to synthesize the intelligence, which would appear only after the information was assembled and analyzed. Inaction itself isn't the issue — it's a problem of access to insight. You can't act on what you don't know.

The publicized unconnected dots stories are typically about poor communication and information sharing among government agencies, but corporations suffer from the same challenges — even when all or most of the dots are internal data.

In an op-ed piece published recently in the Washington Post, Toyota President Akio Toyoda addressed the company's recent recall of nearly 8 million cars to correct serious safety problems, a crisis that has eroded a fifth of the company's market value (or $30bn) and has already cost the company over $2bn. Toyoda acknowledged that the root of the problem was that the company "failed to connect the dots." He went on to say that the company needed to improve "sharing important quality and safety information across our global operations."

"When consumers purchase a Toyota, they are not simply purchasing a car, truck or van. They are placing their trust in our company," Toyoda wrote. The cost of not connecting the dots can destroy not only quantifiable market value but also the long-term value of the brand. That trust, once tarnished, is hard to restore.

We frequently hear complaints that a critical event should have been avoided, but groups of people were unable to "connect the dots." The problem expressed here is that the dots are all available in various repositories, but there was no way to synthesize the intelligence, which would appear only after the information was assembled and analyzed. Inaction itself isn't the issue — it's a problem of access to insight. You can't act on what you don't know.

The publicized unconnected dots stories are typically about poor communication and information sharing among government agencies, but corporations suffer from the same challenges — even when all or most of the dots are internal data.

In an op-ed piece published recently in the Washington Post, Toyota President Akio Toyoda addressed the company's recent recall of nearly 8 million cars to correct serious safety problems, a crisis that has eroded a fifth of the company's market value (or $30bn) and has already cost the company over $2bn. Toyoda acknowledged that the root of the problem was that the company "failed to connect the dots." He went on to say that the company needed to improve "sharing important quality and safety information across our global operations."

"When consumers purchase a Toyota, they are not simply purchasing a car, truck or van. They are placing their trust in our company," Toyoda wrote. The cost of not connecting the dots can destroy not only quantifiable market value but also the long-term value of the brand. That trust, once tarnished, is hard to restore.

On behalf of the entire B-Side team, I am sad to announce that after 5 years in business B-Side is closing its doors on March 1.

The timing is especially disappointing, as the past year has been our best ever. In 2009, we opened our New York office and launched a new distribution business, successfully releasing 8 films. We grew to 220 film festival partners worldwide and started off 2010 with our widely praised Sundance collaboration.

Unfortunately, in the face of the lingering economic crisis and ongoing upheaval in the film business, our investors decided to stop funding the company. Under extreme time pressure, we were unable to secure alternate financing, and are left with no choice other than to shut down.

Our immediate focus is winding down the business with as much care and effort as we put into building it. We are working with our filmmakers to find the best possible homes for their films. We are working with our festival partners to ensure a smooth transition from the B-Side platform. And we are actively seeking the right partner to acquire our Festival Genius technology in the hope that it will continue to connect festival audiences around the world.

I am sad to have reached the end of this chapter, but am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved. I am confident that our efforts will have a lasting impact on this business. I am also confident that the B-Side team will bring their experience to new ventures that will pick up where B-Side is leaving off.

We would like to thank the filmmakers who placed their trust and faith in us, the hundreds of festivals who were our partners and became our friends, and the millions of audience members who participated and contributed to the B-Side experience.

Chris Hyams, B-Side Founder & CEO
Cassie England
Chris Holland
Chris Sharp
Jamie Balling
Jennifer Lee
Jesse Trussel
Jessica Wolfson
JR Futrell
Lea Prainsack
Liz Ogilvie
Meetesh Karia
Mike McCown
Paola Freccero
Tory Gast

In this whiteboard video, Attivio Architect Martin Serrano provides an overview of query-side JOIN in AIE.

Attivio AIE allows you to ingest both unstructured content and database content into the AIE inverted index. Martin discusses Attivio's patent-pending Query-side JOIN operator, which assembles relevant indexed information of all types when the query is issued. This query-time capability does not rely on a data schema set in advance; in fact, AIE is schema-agnostic and allows you to add a table at any time without having to change the data model or re-ingest information. Martin also discusses the limitations in the way most enterprise search systems handle database tables - flattening the records and not providing a way to reconstruct relationships. The AIE JOIN operator not only links data, it also links relevant textual information in response to a query.

Adobe Flash is required to view this video.

B-Side’s TRUST US, THIS IS ALL MADE UP, starring master improvers TJ Jagodowski and David Pasquesi (aka TJ & Dave), is available for pre-order from Amazon now and will be shipped February 16th.

Improv fans can catch TRUST US in Chapel Hill, NC as part of the at the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival on February 25th. Click here to purchase your tickets now.

Opening this Friday Feb 12-18 at Chicago’s Facets Cinematheque is B-Side’s STILL BILL. Roger Ebert gives the intimate portrait of iconic soul legend Bill Withers 3.5 of 4 stars. "Withers seems as close to everyday Zen as I can imagine…," wrote Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times). Click here to purchase your tickets now.

It doesn’t get much more real than this…

Friday marks the kickoff of the 7th Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the largest film event in Montana. Over the course of its run (February 12 – 21), the fest has scheduled 130 short and feature length non-fiction films from over 30 countries. Among the many choice docs screening at the festival, here are a few of the most buzzed-about:

Sergio, a profile of the charismatic and outspoken Brazilian United Nations diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello directed by Greg Barker, will open this year’s fest. The film won the U.S. Documentary Editing Award at Sundance 2009, and is being presented as a free screening sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. Afterward, saunter on over to the HBO Kickoff Party at The Loft, for an evening of simple and elegant drinks and food.

The Sun Ship Game, chronicling the 1969 U.S. National Soaring Championship in Marfa, Texas, was made by legendary and pioneering documentary filmmaker Robert Drew. Though made in 1969, copyright issues have kept if from being screened, and Big Sky’s Tuesday night screening will mark its World Premiere.

All this and more under the roof of the historic Wilma Theatre, a lush and opulent Missoula landmark since 1921.  Check out the schedule and plan your festival here.

CineKink NYC (Feb 16-21)

Every festival must come to an end… but that doesn’t mean the fun has to stop!  With B-Side’s Festival Genius sites, you can keep interacting with the films long after an event is over. Share info about them with your friends on Facebook. Learn about the great movies you missed so you can catch them if they come around again in theaters. And be sure to leave ratings and reviews to share your opinions on the films you saw.


These festivals ended in the past month. Click on them to visit their Festival Genius sites and start sharing your genius.

Oxford Film Festival – Oxford, MS
Taos Shortz Film Fest – Taos, NM
Sundance Film Festival – Park City, UT
Bloomington PRIDE Film Festival – Bloomington, IN
ReFrame Peterborough International Film Festival – Peterborough, ON, Canada
Desperado Gay and Lesbian Film Festival – Phoenix, AZ
Slamdance Film Festival – Park City, UT

In this whiteboard video, Attivio Architect Will Johnson provides an overview of guaranteed indexing in AIE.

Will discusses the common methods of content processing used by legacy enterprise search systems and how the Active Intelligence Engine uses a series of checkpoints in its content processing workflows to ensure content & data is successfully indexed and retrievable. This method reduces risk for dropping content and greatly reduces the need for re-processing content due to potential system/component outages.

Adobe Flash is required to view this video.

BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES tells the story of American music at this precarious moment. Filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen traveled the country, hoping to understand why mainstream music seems so packaged and repetitive, and whether corporations really had the power to silence musical innovation.

The answers they found on this journey- ultimately, the promise that the future holds-are what makes BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES both riveting and exhilarating. Buy it now!