Aaron trying to scan something or other with his phone.
Coming to an app-store near you: StiQRd! Founded right here in snowy (at least for today) Memphis, Tennessee, StiQRd is a location-based check-in service (like Foursquare or Gowalla), but it’s unique characteristic is in the program’s marriage of QR codes and GPS location. Aaron Prather, the CEO, is the real expert though, so we’ll let him explain it more fully to you when you listen in.
If the StiQRd concept really strikes you, then you even have a chance to help push the program into reality! The team is taking the app to Launch Memphis’s 48 Hour Launch next weekend. If you have some talent to lend to this or another project, or if you have your own great enterprising idea, this event is definitely worth the small entrance fee. You’ll make some great connections, get some hard work done, and maybe even find yourself partner in a start-up. Check it out!
In other news, Ashton Kutcher can be both attractive and a geek, Dave patently refuses to update his iPad, and the nation is ditching physical Starbuck’s cards for a mobile phone version. Drive Safe.ly or Drive Reply might save your life, but if you must text and drive, at least go Dave’s route and use the voice recognition feature on your phone. Hint: on Android, install Google’s Voice Search app to utilize the fantastic voice recognition software for searching the web and your phone.
Lastly, MLK Day 2011 has gone, but learning about civil rights is always important, so check out LunaWeb’s Mid-South Civil Rights Trek on Scvngr. Read this post about it over on the LW blog, too! Perhaps don’t get started on the trek tonight, though. It’s looking like a good night to stay off the icy roads and dig into some chili.
Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.
Well if you’re referring to the Verizon iPhone? Hot. If you’re referring to buying your girlfriend a virtual bouquet for Valentine’s Day… most definitely not. This week’s podcast explores the ins and outs of these topics, but (as usual) we can’t stay on topic too long. So you’ll also get a smattering of…
Resolution-assisting apps! Endomondo is a great little exercise app. Just turn it on while you run/walk/bike/ski and it uses GPS to figure out how fast and far you’ve gone and how many calories you’ve burned. Then it adds the info to your online log, so you can track your progress. The app also supports golfing, “orienteering,” and swimming. The Social Expedition does not suggest you take your phone in the pool, though.
Dave also mentions the Nike running shoes that tweet your progress. Well it’s not the actual shoes that are tweeting, but you do need a little gadget to hook up to your iPod. If you’re up for buying the necessary gear, join the Nike Plus running community here or here. Rachel is a fan of the Couch to 5K app, though, and it’s only $2.99 compared to $30 or so for the Nike transmitter.
Then, we’re thinking Productivity Resolutions when we get into the queue feature on YouTube (it’s not exactly new, but we’re loving it), and the Read It Later app that will help you remember to check out articles and videos you don’t have the time right then. We like Twitter Favorites for this same purpose, too!
Verizon iPhone. Need we say more? Speculation abounds, but we are definitely curious to see the impact on the Android platform. Particularly in app development. As the splash page on Verizon says – “iPhone 4. Verizon. It begins.”
This podcast also features a few of the finer qualities of HotorNot.com. We’ll let you hear more when you listen in.
Lastly, we are insanely excited for the 48 Hour Launch on the 28th! Whether you have a great idea for a start-up, or you just want to get your hands dirty in some really spectacular collaborations, this event is not to be missed. You never know, you might walk out a business partner. For a preview, check out the 48 Hour Pitch Night on Thursday, January 20.
Speaking of the 20th, it’s our January Twilight Camp! 5:30 to 7:30 pm at LunaWeb’s offices, 5180 Park Ave, Suite 305. Bring your questions, bring your answers, and bring your apps.
Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.
Our 2011 kick-off podcast touches on a wide array of topics, but we’ll give you a little preview here: QR codes, the latest in location-based services, default settings (and the pros and cons thereof), customization, and hand-crank phone chargers. Confused? Listen to the podcast, and it will all become clear!
Quora – a question/answer site we really hope doesn’t get filled with a bunch of trash.
Blekko – a great new search engine. Try following your search keyword with “/date” to see the most recent results at the top!
Then, you’ll definitely want to check out the video below of the Man with the Golden Voice. As Dave notes on the podcast, this man’s story is a truly great example of how social media can bring about social good. When this video went viral, this man got a second chance at life.
Lastly, come to Twilight Camp on the 20th and to the 48 Hour Launch on January 28th! In the meantime, we’re gonna attempt sticking to our resolutions, which include flossing and remembering to check-in. How bout you?
Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.
Happy almost 2011! Only a few hours until champagne and resolutions, so while we had some time left before next year, the Social Expedition took the liberty of gazing into our fancy high-res crystal ball to see if we could decipher the future.
We couldn’t, but we can still make some guesses. Listen in for our predictions, and then let us know some of yours at the Breakfast on Wednesday, January 5! It’s our “Predictions 2011 Panel” Breakfast, so bring your best guesses into the next year of social media. RSVP here if you haven’t already!
Then, Dave catches up with Andre Natta, publisher and managing editor of the Terminal, a Birmingham hyperlocal blog. We hope you’ll bear with us through a little wind and ambient noise (there might be a cat in there somewhere), as Dave met Andre down at Tom Lee Park. Don’t miss a few of Andre’s predictions, as well as a few cool tidbits about the social scene down in Alabama’s capital. Catch up with Andre on Twitter or Facebook, too!
We hope that everyone will be safe on New Year’s Eve, especially on the roads. To help you, check out DriveReply, for Android and Blackberry, an app which will detect if you are traveling at over 15 mph and automatically stop notifications of calls and texts to your phones. It will also send an auto reply to the person trying to contact you. Take away your temptation to text and drive!!
Lastly, while we’re on the subject of predictions – watch this completely awesome video of a Nokia concept phone. It won’t be here in 2011, but they’re hoping by 2019… Nokia Morph Concept. Happy New Year!!
Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.
Can using your cell phone on an airplane cause the controls to malfunction? Apparently not. But since take-off and landing are the most likely times for some kind of problem, the airlines probably ask you to “turn off all electronics” so you aren’t distracted in the case of an emergency. Or perhaps, as Andy Glover suggested, they’re just trying to ensure that BrickBreaker is not your last act on Earth. Learn something new everyday!
Our holiday Twilight Camp was nice and chill last night, but of course, we all got a little excited when the conversation turned to the iPad 2. Right now, it’s all conjecture, but we hear the iPad 2 might be here as soon as April, with a retina screen and two cameras just like the iPhone 4. How do we feel about it? Well, “Eeee!” about sums it.
Then we launched into the Aggregator/Distribution conversation. Is it okay to push the same message to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn? Here at the Social Expedition, we stand behind the idea that different social media platforms deserve different messages, taylored to their unique format. That said, running several social media accounts can be time-consuming, so we can definitely appreciate a good multi-platform management tool. That is, as long as it isn’t used to publish the exact same message to many sites. We tend to favor Hootsuite, but several folks at Twilight Camp swear by Tweetdeck. They’re both free (Hootsuite up to 5 social accounts free), so give them a try and let us know which you prefer! We’ve been hearing good things about SproutSocial, a premium social aggregation tool, and we’d love to hear your feedback if you’re using it!
Another tip for our multiple account managers: when you use a URL shortener like Bit.ly or Budurl, set up different shortened addresses for Twitter and Facebook. That way, you can look at the stats later and know where you’re getting more traffic from!
In other Twilight Camp discussions, we found that FBML landing pages are so hip, cloud-based services are on the rise, and we all want to get our hands on the Chrome OS netbooks that Google is giving out for free. Sign up here if you want to apply for the Pilot Program!
Last question – do you prefer reading on the iPad or an e-reader like the Kindle?
We promised it last week, and here it is: The Social Expedition’s Holiday Wish Lists! We would say you’ve got to listen to find out what geeky items we’re dying to see under our trees, but we also wanted to get you some links, so…
Ansley:
Dots Gloves – for use with conductive touchscreens.
When Dominique sat down at our podcasting table, we were struck by her big smile and obvious savvy. The Hispanic market in Memphis is ever growing, and it will become increasingly important that businesses do not neglect this portion of the community. But it’s not as easy as just plugging copy into an automatic translator. It’s not even as easy as getting a legitimate translation. What a company hoping to attract Hispanic business may not realize is that, in some cases, there is a whole different value structure to appeal to when presenting the benefits of a product or service. That’s where Dom comes in, and my goodness does she shine! Definitely give her a listen – we guarantee you’ll learn something about the Hispanic population that you did not know.
In the remainder of our 53rd podcast, maybe you’ll learn something you didn’t know about Angry Birds (oh, how we love it), this awesome Ruckus antennae, FCC regulations, or one of the new Android tablets. Or, if you already know all about all that, maybe you’ll just enjoy our banter!
Don’t forget about Twilight Camp on the 16th. There will be pizza. There will be iPads. There will be Christmas music. What’s not to love?
Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.
It’s our yearly Show and Tell Breakfast! Every once in a while, we like to open up the floor to our Expeditioners to wax eloquent on any social subject that strikes their fancy! This time, we were treated to an array of tools in the “Web 2.5″ space (as one of our Expeditioners said in his presentation), from apps to social searches.
First off, a huge thank you to everyone who showed and told. We certainly learned a lot and brought back a nice long list of tools to check out in the next few days. Dave, ever the iPad champion, extolled the virtues of Flipboard, an RSS and social feeds aggregator. What makes it different from competitors, though, is it’s beautiful magazine layout.
Tim brought us a fun and insightful presentation on how far the internet has come in the last few years. Are we still in Web 2.0? Have we moved on to Web 3.0 yet? Tim argues we’re in Web 2.5. We just have to be flexible, keep evolving, and not end up like the Dodo bird.
Lorrie Jackson taught us about social marketing tools like Socialmention.com and Involver.com. Then she shared some other great resources, like Twitterfeed.com, which pushes your blogposts to Twitter, and Pagemodo.com, an FBML template service.
Rachel presented us with her virtual business card on Flavors.me, a social aggregator with a sleek, professional look. Just to give you more options, About.me is a similar service with a slightly less silly name.
Will anyone use Path? Let us know if you are. We’re all so curious. Is it Instagr.am? Is it just Twitter for 50 people?
Mary suggests Outbrain.com for increasing site traffic and Polaris, a desktop platform for Google Analytics. She also found BackUpMyTweets.com, which I believe is self-explanatory. And it’s free! Maggie likes Sproutsocial.com to find new potential customers for ecommerce, Dave likes Blekko.com for “slashtag searching,” and we all feel a little ambiguous and apprehensive about content farms.
And finally, Beth has a QR code on her business cards! Thank you so much to all of your for contributing and making this a really interactive breakfast. See you all after the holidays!
November’s Twilight Camp was about 3 years ago, but fortunately we took some notes and finally have a recap. We discussed several trends branching across several tech categories:
Content Farms: What are they and are they the root of evil or good? The purpose of Content Farms are to increase SEO results. Agencies like Demand Media are making big bucks by writing countless articles a day and plugging them into databases in order to increase content and traffic. For more information, check out this article.
Bing vs. Google: Are you paying attention to your “Social Circle” search results? Bing is the pioneer here, and Google has released this in beta form. Do you read articles based on reviews within your social circle? If one of your friends “like it,” do you read it? During this discussion Dave mentioned Bynamite.com, which allows you to see how internet advertisers “see” you based on the sites you visit.
Social Sphere: We talked about how easy it is to lose ourselves on multiple social networking sites a day, privacy settings, and the different audiences we speak to on Twitter and Facebook. From there, a new social platform was introduced: Path. Path’s difference is that users are allowed only 50 friends. Can we benefit from this? Would this nurture more authentic relationships with the people we maintain contact with? You can also check out Rescuetime.com to see exactly how much time you’re spending on Facebook and Twitter – if you really want to know.
Email Services: We reminisced about the days of yore and email, then discussed the benefits of Mail Chimp and Constant Contact (though we personally love Campaign Monitor). The benefits of each are the statistics they provide as well as the ability to block spam. There are trial periods for each so give them a test drive before making a decision.
And then there was the Girl Talk interlude via Simon and Garfunkle praise. If you know what’s good for you, download the illegal? legal? album for free here.
Oof. That’s probably how you feel right now after having eaten all your turkey and potatoes and given your thanks. But after your nap, check out this podcast! The big hullabaloo these days is over the TSA and their invasive security precautions, and naturally, the social networks are jumping on the hype wagon. Specifically, Foursquare is offering a special badge in mockery of the new full-body scanners and pat-downs. Find out how to get it by listening in!
Speaking of traveling, anyone who will be stuck in an airport for a while over the holidays should check out Point Inside, an awesome app that will provide a map of most US airports, all the shopping and food vendors, smoking areas, and Wi-Fi info. It’s free and it’s available on iPhone and Android.
At Rachel’s recommendations, find some awesome Thanksgiving and Black Friday applicable apps here, and be careful in the holiday traffic with this app that helps prevent texting while driving, DriveReply.
We’re off the enjoy our own turkeys. We wish you rest, relaxation, the yummiest of meals, and all the warmth of the season. Hoping to see you at the December 1st Breakfast at 7:30 am at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Download the podcast here, listen with the player below, or click the iTunes logo to subscribe.
