Clay Parker Jones

Clay Parker Jones

I lead Organizational Design at Airbnb. Previously: August, Undercurrent.

Speaking

Smaller is Better: Web 2.0 2010

Alex and I were fortunate enough to be able to present something at Web 2.0 on Thursday of last week, and I’m happy to report that it went off without a hitch. We spoke about a topic that we’ve both been passionate about for quite some time:

Oct 2, 2010 6 min read
Five Things

Five Strategy Things N° 2

Why prizes work; Why games are good for the world; Smaller is better; Millennial alter egos; Post-digital briefs.

Aug 12, 2010 7 min read
Five Things

Five Strategy Things N° 1

Publicness is now free; Influencers are fickle; Moscow traffic; Game designs; Playing time is oxygen.

Aug 7, 2010 7 min read
Branding

Brand Definition & Flexibility - Skype's Brand Book

I've just downloaded Skype's Brand Book, which they've recently made public on their site. It's a nice piece of work, and offers a rich, flexible and humorous set of guidelines for the use of Skype's brand elements. They allow for

Apr 7, 2009 3 min read

The Social Web and B2B Marketing

So... the following is a draft for a little page-or-so thing I'm writing in re: a position on the social web and its implications for B2B marketing. Warning! There are a few buzzwordy things in the below, and the voice is a lot more professional than I usually

Mar 13, 2009 2 min read

On Super-Users and Self-Selecting Networks

Digital Media isn't Mass Media for Cheap Desire Paths: Branding for Digital Lives Two decks that you probably ought to read. The first is from Bud Caddell. It's about a better perspective for businesses to take in their approach to goal-setting for the web. Key takeaway:

Mar 12, 2009 2 min read
Experience Design

Narrative Suspense and Your Boring Site

Yesterday I was reading a profile in the New Yorker about Ian McEwan. He's the author of Atonement, among other works, and one of the key features of the profile was his discussion of narrative suspense and how to create it. Narrative suspense is the thing that makes

Mar 3, 2009 2 min read

Knowing the Tools

This one's for the AEs out there. Last night I was watching "Modern Marvels" on The History Channel. This particular episode was about copper, and the portion that caught my attention was a visit to a bell foundry, where bells had been sand-cast from copper and

Apr 25, 2008 1 min read

On Interfaces

It's popular today to think that content is king. People will pay for it if it's good enough, and people will keep coming back to you if you provide "good" on a consistent basis. They'll try your product - whatever it is

Mar 31, 2008 3 min read

On Stickiness

As ad-folk, we're always trying to come up with ways to make things sticky. We want viral videos to gain traction. We want people to stick around on our site and read our content. And we want to come up with radical ideas that become public sensations. With

Jul 31, 2007 1 min read

Finding and distributing meaning

Was thinking last night... When done right, advertising is really about the discovery and innovative distribution of meaning that already exists. Products, services, things and activities in the world have meaning attached to them. And it's up to us, as marketing people, to find that meaning (especially if

Jun 27, 2007 1 min read
Branding

The Success of the Nike Brand, a History

Reader beware: I've been a fan of Nike for my entire life. Dang you, brand loyalty, and the fog that you put me in. Below are some photos of my most recent loves, my Air Force Ones. I'll get to these later. This is an enormous

Dec 18, 2006 6 min read