What exactly is Foursqaure Day, you ask? It's a worldwide celebration of a silly smart-phone app. I mean, errr, it's a location-based social media phenomenon!
When is Foursquare Day? It's April 16, of course. 4/16. 4 squared. Get it? How can you forget? If only birthdays and anniversaries were as easy!
In my bylined piece for Mass High Tech last fall, I touted the fact that Portsmouth was the #1 city in the world (yes you read that correctly) in Foursquare Day participation in 2010. For your edification, here's a great breakdown of how it all happened from my friends at Vital Design, and an article from the local paper for good measure.
OK, so why do I care? Because Foursquare poses an interesting opportunity for small business owners -- those with real storefronts, mind you -- to draw foot traffic by providing an incentive for your customers to stop in. Foursquare says so right here, to wit:
Whether you’re a national chain, a mom-and-pop shop, or anywhere in
between, you can attract new customers or reward your most loyal ones by
offering foursquare Specials – mobile coupons, prizes or discounts –
which are presented to users when they check in at or near your venue.
It's a good Buzzonabudget technique because a.) it's free and b.) set up is easy. All you have to do is decide what kind of discount or incentive to offer. As for c.) The Buzz, it comes from, believe it or not, virtual badges that your customers collect, and their personal egos. You see, the customer with the most "check-ins" at a particular venue is dubbed "The Mayor," and again, believe it or not, the competition can be fierce for this high honor!
Will it build buzz for your business? Only one way to find out! You don't have to wait for Foursquare Day 2012... Give it a try now! We're here to help if you have any questions about getting started. Look at the list of businesses that participated last year and see what they did. Then let us know how you made out... Maybe we'll even make your business a case study and feature it here on this blog. ;-)
It may seem unthinkable, but when you do stop to think about it, it's an undeniable fact: There is a finite number of IP addresses. What's more, those IPs are running out fast. In fact, ICANN, which oversees Internet domains, has already issued its
last block of IPv4 addresses.
The solution? IPv6. Sounds like a new Subaru model, I know.
The issue was recently brought to my attention by Dynamic Internet (the Buzzonabudget hosting and data center of choice), who released this news earlier this month:
New Hampshire data center finalizes IPv6 deployment
SALEM, NH - New Hampshire web hosting firm Dynamic Internet announced
that it has completed initial IPv6 rollout and is now assigning IPv6
address space to its clients upon request.
Appears to be a geeky, arcane technical upgrade that matters only to geeky, arcane technical people, right? But it's a big deal. Such a big deal that the likes of Facebook, Yahoo, and Google are going to test it out, all together, at the same time, June 8, 2011. You may not even notice World IPv6 Day (although I bet Google will do something creative with their logo for it) but it'll be an important day in the future development of the Internet.
If you're one of those geeky, arcane technical people I mentioned above, check out this black-and-white plain-text wiki. You'll love it. http://test-ipv6.com/ipv6day.html
I wasn't at SXSW this year (who am I kidding, I've never been and probably never will, I'm not that cool!) but I still kept up with the goings on via the tweeterers and tweetists who were there on the scene. I follow Pee-Wee Herman @peeweeherman, Eliza Dushku @elizadushku, Duran Duran's Simon le Bon @SimonJCLeBON, as well as even bigger stars like NH's local legends Christine Major @CMajor and Walter Elly @walterelly. If you're into the local social media scene, you already know these two. If you don't, then you're not into the local social media scene. Anyway, I particularly enjoyed Ms. Major's cmajor video production report from the ground there in Austin, where she got the goers to describe South by Southwest in one word! As you'll see, some were better at it than others, and she's pretty lenient on the one-word rule.
As for Mr. Elly, he'll be leading a Social Media Club on Location Based Services on Thursday. Our Social Media Maven Melanie will be there... maybe he'll tell some SXSW stories, too?
Just picked up a copy of the dead-tree edition of the Men's Journal. I had seen a link on Facebook a few days ago, and Rachel Forrest covered it in the Herald, but sometimes you've just gotta have the real thing, and this is one of those times. Especially when the publication doesn't put current content on the web; luckily for you, I scanned it as you can see here. Portsmouth is now routinely named one of the best places in the country to live for a variety of reasons, but typically a national publication will have trouble with the details. Here, though, MJ does a pretty good job. More than this though, I was most flabbergasted pleased to see eCoast and eBrew get mentions! This is now, in year 12 of the brand's existence, one of the biggest press hits we've gotten yet! They say we exist to link start-ups to angel investors, and sure, that's one goal of many... I think the editors probably got faked out by the eCoast Angels investor group and thought there was a direct correlation. Certainly by focusing on the beer, they nailed us dead to rights. :-)
Everybody knows me as sort of a Mr. Portsmouth. I live here, I work here, I volunteer here. It's rare to see me out and about anyplace else. But on Tuesday, I got a call from my pal David Flood. "Join me for the Fat Tuesday Pub Crawl in Dover tonight," he said. "My treat." "Ummm... Okie dokie," I said.
Because I work until 8PM on Tuesdays, I met up with him late. I missed him by seconds at the Central Wave, which was already stop number 4, I believe, on the crawl. So, I proceeded to catch him up at The Orchard Street Chop Shop. I'm supposed to have a ticket or some kind of wrist band or something, apparently, but "I'm with the camera guy," I told the doorman. He nodded in the direction of the stairs.
I met up with Dave and he was still working the room and directing his assistant Matt to shoot b-roll. Soon, however, he was casually interviewing Koz, the head chef, next to me at the bar. You see, Mr. Flood produces hyperlocal web TV news segments. All the video is online at DoverNH.tv. He calls it "NH's first live and on demand online TV channel." Under this umbrella, he runs multiple programs on a wide variety of subjects, from health and beauty, to home and garden, to food and drink, to local events of interest.
On this Fat Tuesday, he was enjoying himself to be sure, but he was also working. I was a mere observer, and what I observed was that he has an eye for the shot, and an easy rapport with the clientele, the management, and even the entertainment. As the wing-man for this man-about-town, it was clear I was in good hands for the evening.
By the time we hit Fury's Publick House, formerly known as Biddy Mulligans, formerly known as (hmmm... can't remember), everybody was well lubricated for the band, which featured local guitar legend Tim Theriault. If you haven't seen him before, he rocks. A lot.
Fury's drew a tough assignment as the last stop on the pub crawl, but Emma and the crew behind the bar took good care of us, despite the decibels and the droves of drinkers.
Summing up, to borrow from Dos Equis... I don't always party in Dover, but when I do, I prefer to party with David, the city's most interesting man!
Go ahead and watch the video now... Enjoy!
(Note the visual evidence of my attendance at 9:05 into the reel; my green and white plaid Celtics hat makes a brief appearance along the bottom of the screen!)
Once again, we're shown that marketeers and the general public have, shall we say, slightly different takes on the Super Bowl commercials. USAToday's AdMeter* put BudLight's lame dog-sitting party spot at #1. Go watch it if you want to. Dogs walk upright and serve beers... Whatevs. Tied at #1 was the cute but predictable spot for Doritos with the pug and a glass patio door. Neither ranked well with the experts.
Conversely, the big winner last night has to be Volkswagen. Not only did it score right behind the two dog spots in USAToday, it was the first SB ad I saw leaked on the Facebook, which tells you it was going viral even before it aired... a great sign. And after it aired during the game, the twitterverse went wild with positive remarks. And it scored very well with the experts.
While the buzz the Super Bowl ads create is on a slightly bigger budget than my clients can typically reach, here's my top five.
#5 E*Trade Baby. Sorry, I'm not even close to sick of this concept. They're just funny.
#4 Verizon iPhone
#3
NFL: "American Family" Grey Group
#2
Chrysler: "Born of Fire"
Wieden & Kennedy/Universal McCann
BTW, this work of art is rated at #44 on USAToday's AdMeter. Unbelievable. Obviously that's because there were no monkeys, dogs, or people getting hit in the face and/or crotch.
#1 Volkswagen Passat Mini-Vader
I also note that this is far and away the most popular of the YouTube, with 16 million views and counting. What's fanny is that this ad completely obscured another VW ad that was nearly as good, the Black Betty Beetle. VW FTW!
*USA TODAY assembled 282 adult volunteers in Bakersfield, Calif., and
McLean, Va., and electronically charted their second-by-second reactions
to ads during the Super Bowl. Shugoll Research and Trotta Associates
chose the volunteers, who used handheld meters to register how much they
liked each ad. A computer continuously averaged the scores. Scores are
the highest average for each ad.
Once again this year, I went looking for a Super Bowl commercial scorecard I could fill out as the game went on, and once again this year, I came up empty. Has anybody seen a good one? It can be a printable one or an online one. It looks like USA Today isn't doing their Ad Meter this year? Meanwhile, I'll try this one on Facebook... I mean, why not, that's where we'll all be commenting on the ads anyway, right?
First, I had logged in as an existing customer and was going through the web site process attempting to upgrade my phone on my line to the iPhone. The iPhone never showed up in the list of available phones. After 3AM, Apple showed up in the drop-down menu as a manufacturer, but it was grayed out.
I noticed with interest the Droid Star Wars R2-D2 phone, which was available for only $99 after all discounts. I wished I didn't have my heart set on the iPhone, because that would be way cool! Which brings me to this, which my friend Jenn sent me on Facebook:
"But I want the iPhone."
Then, I logged in through the link Verizon gave me in my e-mail. That got me right in, and I went through the screens, but at the screen where it asked for billing and shipping address, I hit a glitch. Nothing I put in would allow me to continue. It just kept giving me an error: "Billing and credit card addresses must match." WTF? I was stuck.
By then, then poor Melanie was awake due to my grumbling. She called customer service at my behest, only to get the recording saying their agents weren't available at this ungodly hour, and they wouldn't have any information about the iPhone anyway, and to log into verizonwireless.com for more information. Thanks.
Then she whipped out her iPad, logged in, and walked right through the order process while I struggled with the same process on my Macbook Air. My theory is there was a glitch with Firefox at the address screens that didn't affect Safari.
Meanwhile, I couldn't figure out why the price didn't change anywhere in the process, because I was eligible for a New Every Two phone. I know they discontinued the plan, but it still applies to existing customers and applies to the iPhone, as noted here in their FAQ: http://support.vzw.com/faqs/iphone/iphone_faq.html
Will existing customers be able to redeem their New Every Two credit?
Yes, existing customers will be able to take advantage of their
New Every Two credit if eligible, and use it towards the purchase of
iPhone 4 (may not be available at all agent locations). Back to top
I sent Verizon an e-mail about both of these issues. More news as it develops. The important thing though is I HAVE A CONFIRMATION NUMBER! :-) Now let's see if I can get some ZZZZZ's.
The process has been pretty smooth and quiet. I signed up for the e-mail notifications while I was live-blogging from the local Verizon Wireless store. Since then, I've received just a couple missives from Verizon Wireless. One told me how to prep for the move (including instructions to sign up for an iTunes account, as if I didn't already have one) and one that told me that I could pre-order the phone starting at 3AM on Feb 3.
3AM??? I had to laugh. But they were serious. The release date, the street date, to all the plebs and unwashed masses is Feb 10. But my time is now. VZ also sent me a reminder e-mail today, in case it might've slipped my mind.
I've logged into our VZ account and reviewed the upgrade options available on my line. (We have a family plan.) I'm due a "New Every Two" phone. In fact, truth be told, I've been eligible to upgrade my old LG flip phone since 10/11/09. Why didn't I upgrade to another smart phone in the meantime? Simple answer: I didn't want a smart phone--I wanted the iPhone. And after many fits, starts, head-fakes, and rumors, the long-awaited Verizon iPhone is here.
Verizon has laid out the facts in their FAQ to prepare us for the occasion.
One question that is unanswered is what price I'll have to pay. Verizon's said flat out on their site that I'm "eligible" for an upgrade on this line, and that VZ users can in fact apply "New Every Two credit" toward the iPhone. I expect this to mean the $199 unit will cost me $99, but we shall see. I know we'll add a $30 monthly charge for data. I don't know if I'll spring for the $20 for the hotspot data feature.
Meanwhile, the reviews are coming in from TechCrunch and Walter Mossberg and David Pogue and all the others who got advance copies. Read 'em if you want, but they all say the same thing: It was worth the wait.
I would've liked to have the iPhone in my hands for the eBrew, but I should have it in hand for my birthday on Feb. 10. (If, that is, I can wake up in time to be one of the first buyers.)
It's inescapable. It's ubiquitous. It's ridiculous! Everybody we know is telling to us vote, and not just vote once, but 3 (three!)
times! Each day! Whatevs! I mean...
If you're like me, you're getting harassed to vote on a daily basis.
So I ask you: What, exactly, is the big deal? What advantage or unique opportunity does this artspace create? It's not like Portsmouth isn't already the arts and culture capital of the state. We've got at least 3 live theaters, we've got art galleries, we've got more restaurants per square mile than anyplace in New England, we've got original local music in nearly every nightspot, we've got Strawbery Banke and history up the wazoo, we've got the Button Factory for artist space, the Music Hall to host larger events... and all this is just off the top of my head. So why all the hoopla about this 3S Artspace project?
I asked my old friend Evan Karatzas just that exact question via e-mail. Evan is on the board of directors for 3S Artspace. He was our creative director at Flywire back in the day, and now his Proximity Lab just took home some hardware from the MITX Awards as I blogged a couple weeks ago. Here's what Evan had to say:
"The idea of an integrated creative space like this is so strong and
so overdue for a city like Portsmouth with a reputation for valuing
arts and culture. You know how important music is to me, so naturally
the prospect of an intimate venue like this with a connected
farm-to-table restaurant was compelling. But what really drew me in was
idea that this gallery space would coexist with these other
multi-sensory spaces. More specifically, I'm interested in the potential
it provides to represent activity throughout 3S as a dynamic
installation experience."
Interesting, I'll grant you. (Ha! Pun intended!) Next I asked Christopher Greiner (who, somehow, I don't know personally), who with John Gayle co-founded the project, the same question.
"You're correct, Portsmouth is the "cultural capital" of the state --
with more cultural options (such as the ones you listed) for the
consumer than any other city -- but ask any local musician, artist,
actor, or culture-seeker, for that matter, and I'm certain that the vast
majority of them would tell you that we have a long way to go before
the market is saturated with cultural venues. [...]
I have a fairly
long history of firsthand experience on both sides of the artistic
fence - administrative and creative [Chris's experience includes The Music Hall, Art-Speak, City Cultural Commission, RPM Challenge, etc. --DSC] and I've spent a lot of time
listening to both artists and consumers of art. It's out of these conversations and my own
observations over the last decade that the concept for 3S was born. From
the business side, 3S takes direct aim at the gaps that exist here: we
are creating a midsize (300 capacity) venue that sits between the
capacities of the small theaters, bars, and The Music Hall; we are
creating a large, non-commercial gallery space, which will not be driven
by sales, where installation, site-specific, cutting edge and
not-necessarily-salable work can be shown; and we are creating a
restaurant (farm-to-table) that aims to be as creative as it is
affordable."
To me, it seems to me that 3S could, as a multi-displinary artistic outlet, complement rather than compete with great artistic outlets Portsmouth already has, and
even better, bring several of them together in one place and time. It could leverage our reputation as a cultural center and
take it to the proverbial "next level," if you will. By offering food and drink, it offers a venue alternative for events that can suffer from the lack of both, especially those held near dinnertime. The project would also make use of an empty (eye-sore) building and make
a destination point out of the upper end of Islington Street, which
itself is due for streetscape treatment that could revitalize the area
and expand the "downtown."
The potential uses for the space are wide open and Chris said he's "all ears" to suggestions. Plus, it would be great PR for the city in general if we could pull this off.
So, yes, given all the foregoing, I'm caving into the daily peer pressure and voting every day! After all, it's just a few clicks, and the upside is $50,000 infusion from a high-fructose corn syrup purveyor to the local community. If you agree, I encourage you to vote, as they say, early and often:
As of this writing, 3S is ranked #28 in its category, exactly half-way through the voting period. Let's see if we can't push it to the top 10 before the end of the month!
Hearty congratulations to Jay Childs on winning the 2010 J.T. O'Donnell Award from Catapult Seacoast. Thanks to Andrew Leibs for doing such a nice job telling Jay's story. Here's the link... Read all about it!
Jay does video production, interactive design, and consulting. He's based in Portsmouth. For more information about Jay's company JBC Communications, check out his web site.
Some might not get why I'm so jazzed about the Verizon iPhone. It's partly because I've been waiting so long for it. I've held out and made do for the past couple years:
Yes, that's the LG flip phone 5400 on the right. I've had it about 3 years, or about 12 in technology years. I'm ridiculed regularly at the eBrew and have been asked to turn in my Geek Card on more than one occasion. You can laugh, but don't judge me. ;-) On the left is my iPod Touch, which I dearly love, but of course, makes no phone calls. So I carry them both. Annoying. And texting on the number pad? It ain't pretty, pardner.
And frankly, I've held out so long it's become a bit of a White Whale (if not a White iPhone)... a personal test of my fortitude... could I suffer along with this flip phone while everybody and his mother (literally, my mom and dad both have them) gets iPhones before me? We've got a great family plan with Verizon and switching providers would've caused us to take quite a hit in the checking account.
But if you don't believe me that the VZ iPhone a big deal, would you believe Jon Stewart? He is, of course, the most trusted newscaster on TV. Being the genius he is, he makes the case more compellingly than I ever could. Enjoy:
Just tried VerizonWireless.com and got the splash page we've all been waiting for!
A great place to watch the news as it leaks out is http://www.macobserver.com/ This site is run locally in part by long-time Apple blogger David Hamilton of Durham.
I just "signed up" on the Verizon page. Not sure what that does or what that actually, you know, means.
On the floor here at the Verizon store, there was one fellow who had the same idea I had... wander in around 11AM on 1-11-11 and attempt to the be first to pre-order the new iPhone. A graphic artist from Amesbury, he's a new Mac guy, having converted his whole house to Apple over the past 2 years. He was also very excited about AAPL stock, which he and I agreed would be splitting soon. At this time, 50 minutes into the Verizon Era, the stock is at 341.
Several people have walked in and asked for the new iPhone. Yep, they're right out back, let me just go fetch one for you! ;-) People unclear on the concept.
Breaking news... Now it looks like the street release date is February 10. My birthday. Yep, I know what I want!
One enthusiastic employee has been refreshing engadget.com every 5 seconds for the past 45 minutes or so.
Details are trickling in. One thing that isn't trickling in are the phones themselves. They're ready for delivery, but that date could be a few weeks out. One source says Feb 3.
They're also wondering about training here, as that needs to happen before they can sell the phones on the floor. "Funny," I said, "it's as if they assume none of you have ever seen an iPhone before."
The pricing will likely be the same iPhone $199 starting point and the same $30 unlimited data pricing.
Thanks to Chuck McMahon at the Portsmouth Herald for an excellent job pulling together this story on the eCoast and the eBrew ahead of our special event. No doubt it contributed to the outstanding turnout we got... I estimated way over 100 (more like 150) of the local technorati were at the Press Room last night to celebrate 12 years of eBrews. The article is a great overview of who we are and why we get together every month. Give it a read and then join us next month! It's always the 1st Thursday, upstairs at the Press Room. Your bartender's name is Sam... She's the best and will take good care of you.
BTW, there are a few pics on the eCoast Facebook page. Here's one of me and my pal Isaac Brake. I'm wearing the wi-fi detecto t-shirt Melanie got me for Christmas, courtesy of ThinkGeek. It was a big hit and a great conversation starter. Plus, I know at least one person bought the same shirt after seeing mine (right Mark?!)... I think I should get a commission.
And yes, I got full bars. SSID=PressRoomRocks. ;-)
The Verizon iPhone, for which I've only been waiting for about 3 years, is widely rumored to be announced on Tuesday. I'll be at the local Verizon store to check it out first hand and see if I can pre-order.
My pal Jay Dogopoulos runs a web hosting service here in New Hampshire called Dynamic Internet, Inc. It's also sometimes referred to as Dyni.net, which is a URL that redirects to DynamicInternet.com. [Full disclosure: I use them for my e-mail and domain hosting, and they've been a long-time client of BuzzonaBudget PR services.]
There's also a company here in New Hampshire called Dynamic Network Services. [Full disclosure: I met few nice guys from there at the TechWorld after-party.]
Then came Wikileaks.
Then came Dyn's (that's the 2nd company) decision to "pull the plug" on Wikileaks.
In light of the Wikileaks controversy, Jay took the initiative to clarify any potential confusion between the two companies and issued a press release. (Actually, it's more of a media advisory.) The result was a great overview of the situation written by the incomparable David Brooks for the Nashua Telegraph:
The upshot of this release is that any potential negative effect on Dynamic Internet has been preempted. Moreover, a smaller firm has garnered positive press on the heels of a major media story, and the media and the public are better informed.
Portsmouth has long been an enclave of talented web development shops, but the secret leaks out a little more every year at the MITX Interactive Awards. Once again this year, Portsmouth shops took home the hardware:
Congrats to my pal DJ Haskins for this feather in the cap.
I also note that, while not a Portsmouth firm per se, Timberland Corporation of Hampton is certainly an eCoast firm, and they took home:
2010 Interactive Marketer of the Year Project: Timberland Agency/Creator: Timberland
Portsmouth shops PixelMEDIA and Mad*Pow were also nominated, no small feat in and of itself. Pixel was nominated for the new Samuel Adams web site. Mad*Pow teamed with The Atom Group, as they are wont to do, for a project for ESPN Deportes.
And perhaps the most telling validation of Portsmouth's web dev chops, The Atom Group designed the MITX awards site itself!
Of course, the MITX Awards (or MIMC Awards as I still call them) are the preeminent web development awards in New England, and they have been for 15 years now. Once again, we have demonstrated that if you're a technology professional, you need not deal with the commute to Boston to find rewarding, gainful employment at a prestigious web shop.
Since 2001, I've been helping small businesses, non-profits, and start-ups get the word out (buzz), at a fixed monthly fee they can afford (budget). Specialties include press releases, blog ghost-writing, Constant Contact newsletters, and social media management. My rate is negotiable. See my LinkedIn profile for more details about my experience: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dscampbell
