Today, the possibilities for creative collaboration are light years away from what they were even just a decade ago. With new apps like Google Wave, and websites like Oozil providing a whole suite of free tools for collaborative communication, it’s almost counter-intuitive to work alone anymore.

Some of the greatest talents and minds in history have always known the power of working on a team. For example:

John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Almost anyone of any age knows the songs of the Beatles, and the groups two main songwriters undoubtedly represent one of the most successful music collaborations in history. Over a period of just seven years, between 1962-69, they published around 180 songs written collaboratively. Unlike many other music partnerships, Lennon and McCartney each wrote both music and lyrics.

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro

While Hollywood partnerships usually last about as long as Hollywood marriages, director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro have made a total of nine films together, and their partnership is ongoing. Their projects include some of the undisputed greatest films of all time, including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Casino. Their collaboration is well into its fourth decade with the recent announcement of The Winter of Frankie Machine.

Ellery Queen

If you’re not familiar with Ellery Queen, chances are your parents or grandparents are. In a series of novels that spanned 42 years, Ellery Queen was one of the most successful mystery writers of all time, transitioning from popular books to radio, TV, and movies. The name was the pseudonym of two writers, Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee, whose collaboration was so effortless, they only needed one name.

Coco Chanel and Pierre Wertheimer

Great collaborations don’t always have to involve two creative types. Sometimes they just require one creative type and a benefactor who recognizes the other person’s genius. Such was the case with fashion designer Coco Chanel, who benefited from theWertheimer’s expertise on commerce as well as his capital to launch Chanel perfumes. While the deal later went sour, working with Wertheimer ultimately made Chanel a very famous and very rich woman.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield

Sometimes it helps if you’re already best friends. In 1978, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened an ice cream shop in an old gas station in downtown Vermont, after learning ice cream making through a correspondence course –the early version of learning it online. You now know them as the names on your carton of Ben & Jerry’s

Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Though some say they disagreed about almost everything on their first meeting at Stanford University, Larry and Sergey quickly became friends. Cramming their dorm room with cheap computers and armed with Brin’s data mining system, they ultimately used a rented garage to start up what ultimately became Google.

What do all these great collaborations have to do with Oozil? Everything. Enabling collaborative work is one of the driving forces of Oozil, and you can be part of it. With Oozil’s tools, you can find the Lennon to your McCartney, or the Larry to your Sergey, without even leaving home.

Oozil’s got your ticket to ride.

By Elizabeth Kelly

What’s new in the world of technology is the same thing as what’s new in the world of Oozil. When a new company is on the cutting edge of creativity and communication like Oozil is, it all ties together. Here’s what I mean:

Google Previews Google Wave

Search engine titan Google premiered an invitation-only beta version of its new Wave application recently, introducing a new service designed for collaborative work that the company believes represents the next generation of Internet communication. The web-based product will merge emails, IMs, wikis and social networking into one, allowing for real time communication and collaboration.

How is Google’s news big news for Oozil? Because, as Oozil guru Lee Epstein can’t help noticing, it’s “exactly one of the premises Oozil is being designed around.” Oozil’s tools for creating revenue streams will include cloud applications, video conferencing, advanced IM and email, and that’s just the beginning of the list of services Oozil will offer its members.

Oozil is proof that new ideas in collaborative communication aren’t exclusive to that other company with the funny name.

R.I.P. Email

Is email dead? That’s what the Wall Street Journal thinks. A recent column by writer Jessica E. Vascellaro called “Why Email No Longer Rules” says that email’s reign as the king of communication is now over. She cites networking sites like Twitter and Facebook as more relevant to the way we use technology now: “…Email was better suited to the way we used to use the Internet—logging off and on, checking our messages in bursts. Now, we are always connected, whether we are sitting at a desk or on a mobile phone.

M. Siegler, writing for the weblog Tech Crunch , agrees, but he believes Vascellero shortchanges Google Wave in her praise of other new communication technologies like Twitter, saying that we “want the option to communicate in real-time at will, but also the ability to communicate at our leisure at times.” In other words, we desire a new, more flexible method of communication, such as Google Wave.

Siegler’s most interesting assessment comes at the end of his essay, when he says: “Whether Google Wave succeeds is really irrelevant. More important is if the idea of Wave does.”

Oozil already knows that the ideas behind the new app are the way of the future, and we’re ready to let people use and benefit from creative collaboration in our own unique way. Is email dead? Oozil doesn’t care, because we know it hardly matters. The new wave is here.

Are you ready to ride the wave of the next generation of communication? Or will you be left behind? Join the Oozil community, and be part of the revolution.

By Elizabeth Kelly

No one buys sight unseen. Customers want to thump the melon, smell the coffee, and squeeze the Charmin before they put it into their shopping cart. The same holds true for your creative clients. Before hiring you for advertising, design, copywriting, web development –or any kind of work– they want to see what you can do. Sometimes that’s trickier than it sounds.

That’s where Oozil comes to the rescue. Part of the long list of creative tools Oozil is providing to its members is a virtual portfolio. With practically limitless memory, this space is invaluable: not just as a portfolio, but also a gallery and resume in one that makes your work available for the whole world, without the cost normally associated with hosting your own.

If you don’t have a webpage of your own, you might want a quick lesson in what that entails outisde of Oozil. A simple Google search for “artist webpage” turns up a long list of ads posted by companies that want to relieve creative people of their hard-earned money, charging monthly fees for the design, the space, and the web hosting, with extra charges if you exceed their limits. The cost is often more than you would stand to make by selling your work.

Those aren’t the only fees you would incur if you try to host your own webpage. The domain name costs money too. How much money depends on how good the name is, and you could end up shelling out hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars if you want a catchy one. You can go cheap and purchase a site name like dog-carrots-art23.net (all you’ll get for a budget price) and cross your fingers that anyone will ever find you.

But you don’t have to do any of that. Oozil has done the work for you. They’ve secured the space, the tools, and a catchy name that everyone will remember. You’ll have no need to pound the pavement in your own town with a bulging briefcase full of sample work. You can tell anyone, anywhere: “I’m on Oozil.”

For Oozil members who are clients, this collection of portfolios will be a one-stop shop for finding the people to fulfill your creative needs. Why spend hours flipping through resumes or doing online searches that yield nothing, when you could stop by Oozil and actually see what your potential hiree can do for you?

Oozil is all about connection. You could have the swankiest portfolio in town, but what if no one ever calls to see it? You could be offering a plum advertising assignment, but what if no applicants fit your needs? The virtual portfolio eliminates the hassle as well as the worry, and connects creatives to clients in a way that requires less work for both of them.

Imagine if you had an agent that worked for you, finding the right jobs (or hirees, if you’re a client) for you while you went about your everyday business.

Now stop imagining, because you have one already. Meet Oozil.

by Elizabeth Kelly

The other day I was chatting with Lee Epstein, one of the Oozil gurus, about some of the incredible tools Oozil will be providing for its members: cloud applications, large memory allocation, a super-high-tech email and IM system, and a virtual portfolio, among other features. One of the tools that stood out to me was the mention of “video conferencing.” As a longtime writer, I’m always giddy about anything that can improve my work options (which translates into more money.)

I’ve grown accustomed to needing little more than a laptop, a printer, and an Internet connection, though. What could someone like me, or any other creative person, do with video conferencing? I’ve done some sleuthing, and now I can’t wait to use it. These are just some of the things you can do:

1) Brainstorm in real time. The biggest downside to email is the time lag. Even though we’ve come to think of it as instant, it’s far from it. A brainstorming session thrives on spontaneity, and one idea generating another before there is time to pause. With video conferencing, brainstorming can work like it’s meant to, with a quick, free exchange of ideas.

2) Collaborate. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the magic that can happen when creative masterminds collaborate the right way . Video conferencing makes it possible for great minds from anywhere in the world to come together on one project, regardless of their other commitments and without the travel expense.

3) Be crystal clear. Frequent message board and email users are all familiar with the perception of “tone.” It’s easy for someone reading your message to misunderstand your intention, simply because they can’t read your emotions correctly. With video conferencing, clients or collaborators will know when you have a sense of urgency, or you’ll know when they seem confused. If there’s a sense of excitement about a project, that will be communicated too, and the result will be infectious.

4) Share documents. Sure, you could always use a fax machine, but that’s like using stone age equipment when you’re working on a collaborative creative project. For example, with video conferencing, let’ s say you’re working on a logo design, and your client /partner doesn’t like the style. You could actually re-sketch it on the spot and display it for instant feedback, without waiting for the clunky fax to do its work. We’re talking about mere seconds.

5) Learn. Need a tutorial on how to use a new high-tech piece of equipment? Wish you had someone to show you a certain art technique? You don’t need to attend a class or even leave your house. Video conferencing can be used as a way for one person to share their know-how with anyone, and they can actually demonstrate their expertise right in front of you.

Are you sold yet? I am. Video conferencing is yet one more way the world is getting smaller, and the best of minds from all over the world can meet together. Who knows what the result will be? I can’t wait to find out.

by Elizabeth Kelly

Do you have any experience with video conferencing? How has it changed the way you work? Or, how do you plan to use it once Oozil puts the tools in your hands?