Check in on Whrrl at the Blissdom Conference to win big!
Whrrl is very excited to support this week’s Blissdom Conference, put on by the lovely duo of Allison Worthington and Barbara Jones, held at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.
In case you’re not familiar, Blissdom is a conference for women who “find and express their bliss by publishing online.” While the Whrrl crew can’t specifically make it out to Nashville this year, we still wanted to plan some fun things for the attendees. That’s right; we have a bag of tricks gifts up our sleeves. Literally.
We’re purchased a ton of items that we think you’d love – and laugh – about owning, and we’re going to give them away during the conference at random. Simply check in everywhere you go during Blissdom for a chance to win. Be sure to add #Blissdom tag and tweet your update. We’ll choose winners from Twitter at random and send a DM to the winner, so don’t forget to follow us on Twitter too! We’ll be announcing what you won in the form of a riddle, and you won’t know what it is until you’ve picked up your prize from Whrrl Ambassador Jyl Johnson Pattee.
What are the prizes, you ask? Well, 25 lucky ladies will win items that can or might do the following: Spice up your marriage, make your Snuggie seem SO last year, launch the biggest idea since Google, make the man in your life’s HD TV look like chump change, shed hours off of time spent cooking Thanksgiving dinner every year, make Snookie jealous, and more…
To make your Whrrl experience at the conference even more special, there’s a custom Blissdom Society we created for the 2010 attendees. Just check into two of the following places, and you’re in!
- Blissdom Opening Night Party at Opryland
- Fuse
- Jack Daniels Saloon
- Volare
- Soles4Souls Dropoff (one special prize for the check ins here!)
Three lucky Blissdom Society ladies will be the winner of one of the seriously coolest tech gadgets – the Powermat (a wireless charging station & battery cover valued at approximately $150), which was listed as one of the five best products at CES this year! So what are you waiting for? Check in for a chance to win! We’ll notify who the winners are on Friday evening via Whrrl, and once again, you can pick up your prize from Jyl.
We can’t wait to “virtually” share in the fun with you this year!
Blissfully Yours,
The Whrrl Team
I survived my first CES
Yes, you heard it correct. I just went to International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) for the very first time this year. For a gal that’s been in the technology space since Web 1.0, that’s quite a shocker.
What made me want to attend CES anyway? From a business standpoint, we didn’t have a presence with Whrrl at the show, as we’re a location-based application for mobile phones – specifically the iPhone – and as you know, Apple is noticeably absent from the show every year. I worried about whether or not there would be value in me attending?
The answer: A resounding YES.
From the moment I stepped off the plane and arrive at the Las Vegas Hilton Convention Center, I was greeted by many familiar faces: Jim Alden, Keira Dazi, Calvin Lee, Rynda Laurel and Ricardo Bueno. It was safe to say the LA crew was “in da house!” Each explained to me what was located in the North, South and Central halls, what I should not miss (the LG super thin TV, 3-D TV) and to wear some comfy shoes- which I was clearly NOT doing. Hmm. Wardrobe change!
Because I arrived so late on day one of the show, I decided to skip the floor and head out to Aquaknox for the Lenovo event, which included Jeff Pulver from the 140 Characters conference. Safe to say the “who’s who” of technology were in attendance, as I hobnobbed with folks including journalist Cathy Brooks, Shiny Heart co-founder Frank Gruber, Social Media Club founder Chris Heuer, PR rockstar Brian Solis and the Mashable crew- Ben Parr, Barb Dybwad, Adam Ostrow and Adam Hirsch. In fact, it was my first time meeting the “Adams” in person to which I was thrilled after emailing them back and forth for years! I tried to capture the night on Whrrl but it was a total fail due to lack of lighting (note to self: bring the Fastmac with flash next time). Thank goodness photographer extraordinaire Ken Yeung was on hand to snap fantastic pics and capture the event!
Day two of the show turned out to be a day of meetings and not a lot of time spent walking around the show- when would I do that? It was great to catch up with Momfluential Media founder Ciaran Blumenfeld and finally meet Liz Philips from HP. But I know what you are all really thinking- “where’s the party?”
Oh yes, there was a party! The Parnassus Group hosted an event at the Atomic Testing Museum (I know what you’re thinking- huh?) to which I was actually able to capture here. Again, the “who’s who” of tech showed up, including Robert Scoble who was shooting video of a flying saucer (don’t ask), and Sarah Austin who was enamored with Star Trek The Next Generation stars Brent Spiner and LeVar Burton. Again, I was thrilled to finally meet people in person, and Sarah was no exception. I wandered around the museum learning about the history of nuclear bombs while enjoying a cold adult beverage and meeting more people, and seeing lovely familiar faces like my good friend Marsha Collier, an eBay author and customer service expert. So glad that Brian M Westbrook caught us in a “totally unplanned” and “not staged” shot. :)
right image/brianwestbrook.com
Finally on day three of the show I walked the floor! G4TV’s Dave Mathews showed me around the entire convention, pointing out various gadgets that he thought were noteworthy. We checked out the much hyped 3-D TV which ended up making me dizzy. I learned all about Powermats and scored a Speck iPhone cover (won best of show). I even walked by the ultra-douchey Ed Hardy booth, complete with a scantily-clad model showing off her iPhone bling. Check out more of my experience here.
So, what was the return on investment of attending CES, you ask? Well for starters, just about everyone in technology and social media attends this conference. If you’re looking to build new relationships, meet with clients and connect with colleagues, this is the place. By far, the value I received from networking and in-person communication was priceless. And meeting people in person is always a huge advantage.
image/Ken Yeung, thelettertwo.com
In addition, it certainly doesn’t hurt to be up on the newest technologies and gadgets. Working for a company that develops apps for phones, it’s nice to hear what’s new with different mobile providers and be able to hold a (somewhat) intelligent conversation about the latest and greatest.
Most of all, any conference is what you make of it. Whether I was a booth babe back in the day at Internet World, prepping speakers for Ad:Tech, or wandering around CES, you have to have a clear goal and purpose in mind. For conferences where you don’t have a presence or tie-in (like CES was for me), it’s crucial you plan ahead. Think about technologies you want to see, people you want to meet, events you want to attend and meetings you want to have. There’s nothing worse than getting off the plane and wandering around aimlessly. Be prepared and I promise going to large conferences like CES will be worth it!
10 Social Media People You Should Meet
SXSW was a Whrrl wind! There is so much to talk about that it’s tough to know where to start.
This was my first time at SXSW so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Our goal was to successfully launch Whrrl v2.0, but there was so much more going on. I attended some panels. I spent a lot of time in the Techset Blogger Lounge meeting influential people. I was one of the few lucky ones to receive a bandana – my invite to Guy Kawasaki’s BBQ. I stayed out WAY too late, drank gallons of coffee and downed more sugar-free Red Bull than should be allowed by law. And, I thoroughly enjoyed our launch party at Red Eyed Fly.
Take a look at some of our stories:
Guy Kawasaki’s secret SXSW BBQ
Backdrop photos by WM Marc at Red Eye Fly Party
Parachute rocked Red Eyed Fly at SXSW!
Mashable Party at Six
Sunday at SXSW Techset Blogger Lounge
For all the panels, parties and networking, the best part of SXSW was meeting some truly amazing people. There was an A-List of the “who’s who” at the conference, and many of whom I had met – like Erin Kotecki Vest, Brian Solis, Stephanie Agresta, and the list goes on- and many I looked forward to meeting for the first time.
Here is my list of the top ten Social Media rockstars that I met at SXSW (in no particular order). I believe everyone should meet these influential folks in 2009:
#10 YimGnome
Search #yimgnome on Twitter
Created by Lindsay Yaw @lindsyaw and Lauren Cook @laurencook
As soon I saw YimGnome, I had to have a picture of him. The founders of Swarm Collective – Lindsey Yaw and Lauren Cook – have a small agency out of Boulder, CO and cooked up YimGnome as a social experiment. The goal? To see how many people would randomly take a picture of him and follow his adventures on Twitter. I believe YimGnome is the type of experimentation that will put these two on the map. If you meet YimGnome, be sure to take a picture and send it to me – we’ll feature it on Whrrl!
#9 Charlie Fern
Owner, Charlie Fern Ink
www.charliefern.com
@misscharlie
Charlie Fern is a former White House speech writer. She came to our launch party at SXSW to support us and ended up partying with the Whrrl gang until the wee hours of the morning. What I love about Charlie is that she’s a master networker. For instance, hanging with Charlie, we didn’t wait in line for the Mashable party and ended up taking pictures with Pete Cashmore the moment we walked in the door. Once you meet her, you’ll know what it’s like to have the White House PR team on your side.
#8 Chris Hughes
@chews
AT&T
Chris was the first person to jailbreak the iPhone – which allowed apps to bypass Apple’s official code distribution mechanism. You may also know him from the demo he gave at TED of new Flash-based software that allows a web browser to recognize patterns in real-life objects and then overlay them with graphics. He currently works at AT&T, and their coverage at SXSW was beyond horrible, so Chris called up AT&T’s CTO. Because of this, AT&T put up three temporary towers the next day. Meet him and you’ll never be without 3G again.
#7 Melissa Pierce
Documentary Filmmaker
www.lifeinperpetualbeta.com
@melissapierce
Melissa produces ‘Life in Perpetual Beta’, a documentary film about the ways in which technology was/is/will change the ways in which we think about ourselves as individuals and as a society. She is every bit as irreverent, funny and sassy as she exudes in her videos, tweets and blog. My favorite tweet to date, “Sleep is the new black.” I never miss a blog post from Melissa, and you won’t want to, either.
#6 Casey McKinnon
Writer, Actress
www.caseymckinnon.com
@caseymckinnon
Casey is the star of ‘A Comic Book Orange’, a graphic novel online review show, and ‘Galacticast’, a sci-fi comedy web series. Check out the episode called, ‘Heat Fozzy’ on Galacticast – a must see. After living in Los Angeles for 7 years, I typically think of actresses as having a big ego and more interested in talking about their dog than getting to know me. Casey was the exact opposite. She came to our launch party, talked about the great projects her friends are working on such as Lan Bui www.lanbui.com, and was interested to learn about Whrrl, too. Meet her and you will have something to brag about when you go to ComiCon.
#5 Katja Presnal
PR/Marketing Consultant
www.skimbacolifestyle.com
@KatjaPresnal
I had been on Twitter for almost a year before I really understood it. That all changed when Katja opened my eyes to the power of Twitter through one of her #followfriday parties. Because of her, I had more followers in one day than I had accumulated in my first year. When I met Katja, I asked how she got into blogging, and she said a number of bloggers helped her when she was creating her website. And now she helps others with her blog, which is focused on giving moms the tools to live life to the fullest. Meet her and you’ll double your Twitter following.
#4 Lucretia M. Pruitt
Blogger
http://geekmommy.net/
@Geek Mommy
Lucretia started her blog – geekmommy- to express the whole “21st Century Mom” experience. I met her at Brian Solis’ book signing – “How to Put the Public Back in Public Relations”. She wanted to know my story, so I showed her Whrrl. Before I could take my next breath, she was already explaining it to Mack Collier and Jenn Fowler, two more influential Twitterati. Meet her and you will know exactly who to call when you need help on how something technically works – she’s a wiz.
#3 Alfred Lin
COO of Zappos
www.zappos.com
@zappos_alfred
Alfred was out and about networking, making introductions, and living the Zappos brand. And, as many of you know, the Zappos brand = amazing customer service. I mentioned to Alfred that I
enjoyed Tony Hseih’s appearance on the Apprentice, and Alfred told me that not all the feedback he received was positive. Hmm, and all I remember is Tony Hsieh’s passionate commitment to service? Whatever the case, Alfred is truly a class act. Meet him and you’ll start to understand the magic behind Zappos- one of the top online brands.
#2 David Berkowitz
Director of Emerging Media & Client Strategy for 360i
www.marketersstudio.com
@dberkowitz
I’ve been reading David’s work for many years. For instance, in “How does Facebook know I am Jewish?” http://www.marketersstudio.com/2008/07/how-does-facebo.html David discusses how a Facebook ad targeted him based on his religion. He then investigates how this happened and what targeting techniques were used. When we met, we discussed how “ad targeting” is a serious responsibility for advertising channels, advertisers and agencies. I told David he is the right person to explain why ad targeting is critical to the future of independent content. The industry needs David Berkowitz and if you’ll meet him, you’ll understand why.
#1 Kenny Tomlin
President of Rockfish Interactive
www.rockfishinteractive.com
@kennytomlin
Kenny is the president of Rockfish Interactive, the agency working with Walmart on the “Walmart Elevenmoms” . What is it all about? Essentially, his boutique agency convinced one of the largest and most conservative brands in America – Walmart- to hand over its social media presence to eleven superstar blogger moms. The brand was then told it has no control over what these moms say, do or shop – heck, they may not even talk about the brand. Say what? :-) Kenny has inspired me and opened my eyes to new possibilities in the social media realm. In fact, I am currently working on a separate blog post on why I think this campaign is one of the best social media campaigns I’ve seen to date. Be sure and meet Kenny.
Follow me on twitter: @jkimlosangeles
Location Sharing Landing Pages (That Aren’t Lame)
Around here we’re obsessed with creating ways to bring Whrrl users one step closer to adventures with friends in the real world. Sharing where you are increases the odds that if someone you know is nearby they’ll see your location update and suggest a meet up.
Friends who have Whrrl receive notifications when you’re nearby based on their settings. To reach a larger audience, you can post your location to Twitter so that friends outside of Whrrl will know where you are, too:
Location updates should be more interesting than a link that drops you in the middle of a map without much context. Instead of linking to the Whrrl website, this lightweight landing page makes it easy to quickly build a list of places you’ve been to or want to visit. Places surfaced in the list are based on the preferences of the person featured on the map.
Life Happens at a Location – Share Your Story
Where you are is crucial to remembering and sharing your experiences and making discoveries about the world around you. Memes like the recent Twitter #WWY911 demonstrate the power of tying the question “where were you?” with important moments in life.
The Web of the Physical World
People share their life stories through status updates, photos, comments, links, videos, and more through services like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. Incorporating location in your story with Whrrl adds context to everything you share, and with GPS in mobile devices it’s easier than ever before.
When I walked through the woods as a kid, I wondered if anyone had ever stepped on a particular piece of ground before. Who were they? What had they being doing here?
The character of a place is often evident in its visitors. Imagine knowing the stories of the café where Hemingway wrote, the places where characters from Entourage hang out, or the theater where Lincoln was shot. Aren’t you curious where Barack Obama goes for waffles?
Speeding Up Time-to-Discovery
Whrrl increases the odds that you’ll find serendipity in your daily life. See what your friends are up to by keeping track of the locations they share. Use collaborative filters to receive recommendations for places to go, based on the shared experiences within your network.
Tim O’Reilly discussed what we at Pelago call the “web of the physical world” last week in his Web Meets World talk at Web 2.0 Expo NY, and mentioned that services like Whrrl are early indicators in the emerging “instrumenting the world” trend. The ability to deliver personalization based on GPS coordinates (and hopefully someday other factors like temperature, motion, or volume) is becoming a reality.
You might discover something new, like a breakfast place where people stand out in the cold for almost an hour any day of the week and occasionally meet their future spouse in line (Dish). In my humble opinion, meeting the love of your life (human or omelet) is definitely a more meaningful payoff than you’ll get throwing sheep.
Protecting Your Location Sharing
Whether you share your where you are with the entire world, or just broadcast to a select group of people, with Whrrl you have complete control over who you share your location with. Only Whrrl members on your People Who Can See My Location list are notified when you share where you are.
You can also broadcast your location to Twitter and your location will be displayed based on your privacy settings there. Oh and by the way, if you’re a Twitter user, come follow us! Happy storytelling!
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