B2B Marketing Trainer and Consultant
The Passo Dordona, at an elevation of 2060 meters, connects Val Madre in Sondrio with Val Brembana in Bergamo, traversing the Orobie Alps. Accessible by a partially dirt road, it’s less frequented by vehicles. The journey offers scenic views, culminating in historic fortifications, and includes a restaurant for local cuisine.
A free event on July 17, 2025, at the Church of San Lorenzo in Teglio will explore the relationship between artificial intelligence and creativity. The discussion, titled "AI & Creativity: Opportunity or Borders to Defend?", welcomes all participants, regardless of their technical background, to engage in meaningful dialogue about this pressing topic.
I had the honor of supporting Vorwerk Italia in Milan by delivering a two-part training session on "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Tools." This program aimed to equip 'AI Ambassadors' with essential knowledge and skills to promote AI usage within the company, fostering innovation and efficiency. Let's discuss upskilling your team in AI.
After riding my eGravel bike in the Orobic Alps, I explored a beautiful valley with a dam and artificial lake at 1400 mt. Taking a scenic route, I climbed over 1000 mt, enjoying the Alpine landscape and abundant water. I observed yellow flowers and returned via a reservoir near a hydroelectric plant.
The Liquid Factory is seeking aspiring entrepreneurs to join its upcoming batch, emphasizing the importance of a founder mindset and courage over having a company or idea. Engaging in innovation, particularly in Valtellina, the initiative aims to support startups in building potential unicorns. Applications are open until June 30, 2025.
The ride began in Chiuro, traversing a valley filled with farmers harvesting hay. After reaching the village of Fontaniva, I followed a steep trail to a hydroelectric plant and continued to climb towards the picturesque lakes, enjoying views of the Valtellina valley and spotting various wildflowers along the way.
Today’s ride to the abandoned Decuville railway started at 1000 meters altitude. The railway, built a century ago for hydroelectric dam construction, features a subterranean water channel feeding a power plant below. The journey also showcases ancient churches and a bridge over the Adda River along the Valtellina bike path.
On May 23rd, 2025, I presented The Liquid Factory project at the Valtellina Smart Land event in Sondrio, organized by Energia Media srl. This was a valuable opportunity to share the vision and initial results of this exciting initiative led by Fabrizio Capobianco.
On May 22nd, 2025, I spoke at Zehnder Group International AG in Gränichen, Switzerland, on "AI & Marketing," hosted by the University of Strasbourg. The event attracted a vibrant audience from Zehnder Group and CAWEB Master's students. I appreciated the engaging questions and the efforts of organizers Renate De La Paix and Benjamin Marquardt.
On May 20, 2025, a training class was conducted in Sondrio for the Enti Bilaterali della Provincia di Sondrio. The session was organized with gratitude towards Free Work Servizi Srl for their support in facilitating the event.
The post discusses a UX issue with Windows 11, where users face difficulties using facial recognition with multiple screens. The "Make sure it's you" pop-up appears on the secondary screen, forcing users to quickly click an OK button while looking at the primary screen's camera. A suggested improvement is to display the pop-up on the camera screen for better usability.
"Careless People" by Sarah Wynn-Williams is a crucial read for marketing and communication professionals, exposing issues of greed, negligence, and harassment within Meta's leadership. Written by a former employee and lawyer, the book details her struggles for truth and integrity at the company, which is actively attempting to suppress its release.
Image slideshows on homepages can harm user experience and SEO. They increase loading times, often go unnoticed by users, confuse search engine crawlers, distract from main calls to action, create poor mobile experiences, and contribute to cognitive overload, ultimately reducing engagement and effectiveness.
Users are increasingly skilled at detecting AI-generated content, risking brands' trust, credibility, and image. This perception may result in decreased engagement and negative backlash. To mitigate these issues, brands should prioritize authenticity, transparency, quality, and maintain a human touch while developing clear internal guidelines that align with audience expectations.
In today's content-rich environment, viewers struggle to find what to watch. Collaborating with Minerva Networks, I highlighted the "Content Iceberg," revealing that only a small fraction of shows and movies are accessible. My focus was on creating clarity through strategic communication, emphasizing the importance of effective content discovery and user experience personalization.
Image slideshows on homepages can harm user experience and SEO. They increase loading times, often go unnoticed by users, confuse search engine crawlers, distract from main calls to action, create poor mobile experiences, and contribute to cognitive overload, ultimately reducing engagement and effectiveness.
The article contrasts startups with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), highlighting their operational phases, investment risks, funding approaches, and business objectives. Startups aim for rapid growth and innovation, often facing higher risks, while SMEs target steady growth in established markets with more stable expectations and financing methods.
The post discusses the optimal positioning of social icons on web pages, highlighting the best placements for various page types, common mistakes in their placement, and strategies to enhance their effectiveness in the customer journey. The author invites reader opinions on the topic, acknowledging potential controversy.
AI image generators often depict clocks as always showing 10:10 due to "aesthetic bias" from training data, which predominantly features this time. This limitation stems from AI's inability to grasp spatial reasoning and detailed geometry. Consequently, relying solely on AI risks generating uniform and unoriginal marketing materials, highlighting the need for human creativity.
Il 27 febbraio 2025, ho tenuto un corso al Polo Liceale di Sondrio, che comprende vari licei. L'obiettivo della classe era introdurre gli studenti ai temi sociali ed etici cruciali legati alla diffusione degli strumenti di intelligenza artificiale.
Franco Folini is a marketing trainer and consultant with a background as an e-commerce entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. He taught at UC Berkeley Extension and currently teaches at the University of Strasbourg and Università della Montagna in Edolo, Italy. Recently, he moved back to his native Valtellina in the Italian Alps. Franco frequently speaks about the impact of AI and other technologies on marketing. For more details, visit his LinkedIn profile or email him at folini@gmail.com.