Organising the Dissemination and Final Product

Though the project was conceived as a stand alone product, the work also needed to be displayed and propagated through a larger audience. I wanted to be able to distribute the idea as well as the CD-Rom itself. I also wanted to use viral marketing techniques to promote the project in the hopes of instigating a ‘meme’, by creating web pages and online discussion.

Post - At first I was dealing with the Memecom Gateway as though it were a real thing in order to promote the quasi-real nature of the story and interaction; the CD-ROM package would be distributed as an illegal bootleg of someone's computer and hard drive, perhaps delivered anonymously. So the final product was packaged and sent to a list of around thirty names from various places in the art and the commercial world.

Message Boards - Message boards are a good method of spreading rumours. The BBC message board for Science and Technology was used as a forum for the project by writing from the assumption that Memecom was a reality. I began by creating a web page that asked visitors to go to the BBC and leave their email address, in response someone would send them a copy of a dead hackers treasure trove of hacking information. I then brought in conspirators to follow up this action by going to the site and asking questions about Memecom and biometric security. This proved interesting, in that a few people did respond and went about searching for more information, unearthing other web pages that supported and corroborated the story.

Web Pages - A number of fake web pages were dispersed through search engines, hoping to provide anyone curious about Memecom or the Gateway CD-ROM with further evidence. Part of the Memecom project involves an artificial intelligence and one of the pages I put up used this program; visitors could connect to William Olafsson and have a conversation about Memecom and the narrative setting. Another page set up claimed to be a page from the Memecom ID System corporate page, explaining what the ID System does.

Blogs (web logs) - A web log allows users to publish serial entry's online, I set up an account with Blogger to act as a false forum for users who had received the Memecom Gateway CD-ROM and wished to discuss it. Though only selected and registered users could post their own messages, anyone who finds the Blog could write their own comments.

Manual and Tutorial - A fake hacking tutorial was sent to various underground hacker sites, in the hopes of furthering the ’meme’ of Memecom. The distributed "manual" acts as a walkthrough for the CD contents and the operating system.

Placement - The CD-ROM has been distributed throughout the development in Beta form, an incomplete version. I take any opportunity to distribute the Memecom Gateway to other computers. Throughout the final term leading up to the degree show, there will be a specially set up PC with the Gateway and the supporting documentation, made available to fellow students and hopefully spreading then via rumour and gossip to others who may be interested.