Sharing Killed the Feeds

My brother Bradley wrote a blog post that I want to pass on because it reiterates a lot of what I've been saying around here for the past year or two, about how people are more important pipelines than straight-up news/media sources:

If I have a friend who always shares what I believe to be the best of Boing Boing, I could subscribe to their Boing Boing feed to save the trouble of sifting through 90% more content than I care to make time for.

If you read the entire post you'll get his bigger picture idea-- that because he is friends with people with similar interests (in fact, one might say that's why they're friends in the first place), feed readers have become redundant because the best content has already been shared with him in other ways.

If this rings true for you, be sure you're up to date on Google Social Search, which in many ways tackles this issue (though it requires you to be a bit more proactive than what Bradley is suggesting).

Spam is about Perception

Today I attended Cincinnati AMA's Interactive Marketing SIG presented by Ali Margello of ExactTarget

56% of users who receive "uninteresting" email from a known sender, deem the emails at spam
50% of users who receive emails "too frequently" from a known sender, deem the emails as spam

Opt in with desired frequency and times

FLOH Club - Teaching the older generation how to be computer literate while avoiding family fights

(Trying to aid my mom in some computer-related problem)

Me: Mom, go to your desktop.

Mom: What's my desktop?

Me: Mom! You've been using a computer for like 10 years now..a desktop is the thing with the picture of your and dad on it.

This is an example of one of the many conversations I've had with my Mom, leading to frustration on both sides.

This morning on the Today Show, I saw a segment about Florence Henderson's new business venture called FLOH CLUB.

This is a pretty ingenious concept to help older adults who didn't have the chance to grow up on computers and be super computer literate like the younger generation.

FLOH CLUB allows people to sign up to receive assistance with things such as:

• Using email, instant messaging, videoconferencing and Facebook
• Setting up a home network
• Purchasing airline tickets, gifts, books or prescriptions safely over the internet
• Transferring photos from a digital camera to a computer

The assistance is available once a user purchases a one-time, monthly or annual package. The support services are available 18 hours a day, 7 days a week and are able to access your computer using remote-assistance technology, allowing users to watch as an issue is resolved or as you receive personalized training.

Services like this seem extremely beneficial for the older generation who feel like family members get frustrated when explaining what appear to be simple concepts.

Halloween Costume Poll

From the desk of Jacques Munkey:

Dear Friends,

Halloween is here, and this year I really want to turn my costume power up to eleven. So I've tried on a few costumes and I want all of you to help me decide which one to wear. I've created a Facebook poll where you can vote for your favorite costume.

Also, I want to hear your suggestions. If you know the perfect costume for me, post a comment on the WonderBlog. If there's one that strikes my fancy, it could end up in the mix.

The winning costume will be turned into a papercraft doll for you to download and decorate your cubocles, dinner tables or Jacques shrines with.

Voting will end Oct 26th, so that we can have the papercraft doll made in time for Halloween.

Merci and Bon Journee!

ToppsTown receives 2009 WebAward

ToppsTown, a virtual world built by WonderGroup that integrates the Topps collectible sports cards, won a 2009 WebAward for Sports Standard of Excellence.

Entries to the competition were judged on design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copywriting and ease of use. See the full graph of score comparisons here.

We look forward to continually adding to the ToppsTown environment and are excited to show you upcoming changes. Congratulations, Topps and team!

Social media presentations: please share!

Over the summer, WonderGroup offered a few internships in our social media department. Part of Chelsea and Mia's task list over their 3 months here was to create a presentation on "The Future of Social Media." Using their research and some imaginative thinking, the girls put together a presentation that we then filmed and posted to YouTube.

View "The Future of Social Media" on our YouTube channel in 2 parts: Part 1 | Part 2

There is also a quick (3min) follow-up question here: Follow-up

If you would like to follow along with the slideshow that they created, you can view all the slides on Slideshare.

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Additionally, Chelsea and Mia worked on 5 case studies regarding current uses of social media. While video is not available for this presentation, their full case study slides are available on Slideshare (with full notes, next to the comment section). View their Best in Class presentation here.

If you enjoy the Best in Class presentation, we encourage you to share the link with others that might benefit from a current look at 5 case studies in innovative uses of social media. We also welcome all feedback, positive or negative, right here on the WonderBlog.

I Forgot My Computer, Where's the Cloud When You Need It?

Yesterday I grabbed my MacBook, threw it in my backpack, hopped on my motorcycle and headed to work. Once I arrived at the office, fixed my helmet head and got ready to work I realized I had brought my wife's MacBook not mine. They are exactly the same except for a sticker on the bottom. For about thirty minutes I was almost at a stand still, but not completely. I checked my work email using the web interface then checked my GMail account. I checked a few key news sites I've bookmarked using delicious.com.

I learned a couple of important things from this little experience. First, I need to put a sticker on my Mac to make sure I know I've got the right one. Second, the power of cloud computing (using online services like email, document editing, social bookmarking etc.) is not felt every minute of every day, but when you need it, it's great to have.

This means that brands that provide meaningful, useful tools will have a different perception in the consumer's minds. Ignoring cloud computing is no longer an option. Every digital strategic plan must address the question, "How can we help our consumers get things done?" We've definitely entered the era of partnership marketing where a brand becomes a partner of the consumer.

If you printed the internet

There are a handful of images in this series; click through to see them.

Discovered via @bud_caddell