OUR STORY
Our story is about stories. It’s about the stories we all heard and read as children. It’s about the news stories and stories about family and friends that we exchange every day as adults. It’s about the stories we’re told by politicians and by people who are trying to sell us things. It’s about the stories people tell each other to teach and to learn, to heal and to comfort.
Complete stories require the five W’s: Who, What, Where, When and Why.
‘Frederic’ is not a complete story. [Who]
‘Frederic cried’ is not a complete story. [Who, What]
‘Frederic cried in Montreal’ is not a complete story. [Who, What, Where]
‘Frederic cried in Montreal on his first birthday’ is not a complete story. [Who, What, Where, When]
‘Frederic cried in Montreal on his first birthday because he put his finger in the candle’ is a complete story. [Who, What, Where, When, Why]
When you think about it, almost all the stories we are told by friends and family, teachers and doctors, politicians and protesters, advertisers and scientists are only complete when they include the five W’s.
In the summer of 1978, Peter Wilson, the inventor of Seff, needed to tell the story of his missing 19-year-old-brother to police, so they could investigate his disappearance. Who was Eric? What was he doing when he was last heard from? Where was he when he last called home? When did he last call home? Why did his family think something bad had happened to him? Using the mainframe computer at McGill University, Peter established relationships between people, places, and events. By combining the five W’s, he was able to help investigators bring his brother’s killers to justice. Peter’s understanding that data only becomes meaningful information when it is given context is the beginning of the story of Seff.
Peter went on to make a career of integrating spatial, temporal and thematic data to solve problems and to tell stories in southern Canada, the Arctic, the Caribbean, in Indigenous communities, and in Greece. He won a number of awards for innovation in geographic information systems and in public sector information management along the way. More important, he pushed existing technology (websites connected to databases) to the limit while telling stories about land use change, environmental management, caribou migrations, Inuit traditional knowledge, chemical weapons production, infrastructure projects, flight training, and many more topics.
When Google purchased Keyhole and rebranded it Google Earth, Peter was invited to Google headquarters to demonstrate his W5L (Who, What, Where, When, Why, Language [Inuktitut]) innovative use of the technology. Staff at Google thanked him for the demonstration, noting “You have done a wonderful demo [of the new technology] that’s better than what we could have done.”
Peter continued to push the limits of now 30-year-old web technology until, a few years ago, he thought of a way to break through those limitations. That new way is Seff, the Synchronized Experience File Format.
YOUR STORY
Your story is likely that of a storyteller, too. An accountant tells a story every time she records who spent how much on what, where and when. A lawyer tells a story to convince a judge in court, a scientist tells a story about who was affected in a given place in a given time period by a specific virus. We all tell stories when we brag or lament about our kids, describe an experience with an airline, protest an injustice, give directions to our home, or post a review online. Until now, we had to decide how much time we wanted to spend – and how much privacy we were prepared to give up — telling stories using photographs (Instagram), audio (podcasts), video (YouTube), text, (websites and social media), etc. Seff lets you tell your story using every digital thing in the world, on the internet or not. And, Seff respects your privacy. You can store and share Seff stories wherever you want, with whomever you want. Only you know where your stories live, as it should be. Now, that’s a happy ending.
OUR VALUES
PETER WILSON, FOUNDER AND CEO
I’m surprised you’re reading this. Haven’t you heard and read enough bunk from corporations about how important you are to them, how they value your privacy, how open and transparent they are being with you, and how they really just want to be your BFF?
Joseph Holt, an ethics professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, wrote in the Chicago Tribune:
Facebook leaders have once again shown us who they are, and I for one believe them. I would readily leave their platform for a new social network that brings people closer together as well as Facebook does while zealously guarding users’ sensitive personal information. And I believe that many other increasingly disillusioned Facebook users would readily do the same. Who will be our entrepreneurial hero?
As the inventor of Seff and CEO of the company, I would like to be that entrepreneurial hero. Seff is “a new social network that brings people closer together as well as [actually far better than] Facebook.” Does Seff do so “while zealously guarding users’ sensitive personal information?” Nope. Seff doesn’t guard your sensitive personal information because we don’t have it. We don’t know where it is. And, we don’t care to know. Guarding your sensitive personal information is none of our business; it’s yours, and that’s the way it should be.
I am proud of the way my parents and grandparents made a good living while helping society. I have tried to do the same. The values I bring to Seff are unabashedly liberal. My greatest hope is that Seff will enable people in underprivileged groups to get ahead by using this leading-edge information management and sharing technology to support one another, to get their message out, and to change society for the better.
Team and Partners
Redefining the way people and organizations manage and share information is no small task, especially when working across all sectors, globally. We are partnering with organizations and individuals that are excited to be part of this adventure. Here are a few of them:
Peter Wilson, Founder and CEO
Peter Wilson is an information systems innovator whose professional and personal life have been devoted to ‘finding a better way’ through award-winning ideas, successful implementation, clear communications, a deep-seated sense of social responsibility, and advocacy. Peter holds a BSc. and an MSc. from McGill University and an MBA from Queen’s University.
Ivan Sykora, Growth Strategy
Accomplished international business leader with over 17 years of experience in spearheading business development for both emerging startups and industry giants such as Google and IBM. Expert in driving sales performance, devising cutting-edge marketing strategies, and steering cross-functional teams toward exceeding corporate goals. Demonstrated proficiency in
penetrating global markets, forging partnerships, and delivering consistent, exceptional results. As a visionary leader, I am dedicated to advancing companies to new heights of success by applying dynamic leadership skills and leveraging in-depth insights into technological trends to drive innovation and sustainable growth.
FOR INVESTORS
Time is money, and Seff saves a ton of both. If you are an investor looking for an opportunity to make money by bringing unprecedented efficiency to the internet, please contact us.
HOW TO ACCESS SEFF
Replace your scattered internet presence with something better.
With very little work.
