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[ Wired ] How the iPhone Could Reboot Education

December 29th, 2009

How do you educate a generation of students eternally distracted by the internet, cellphones and video games? Easy. You enable them by handing out free iPhones — and then integrating the gadget into your curriculum.

That’s the idea Abilene Christian University has to refresh classroom learning. Located in Texas, the private university just finished its first year of a pilot program, in which 1,000 freshman students had the choice between a free iPhone or an iPod Touch.

Read Entire Post on Wired

5 Essential Principals to Help Make Your Web Start-up Successful.

December 21st, 2009

Since our founding we have helped over 20 start-ups at different stages in their development and needless to say we have learned a lot from each of those experiences.

Important: You can find many if not all of essentials I am sharing around the web and in many books.
However the five that I have put together are based on my personal experience as a principal and strategist at The Groop. I can’t claim I am right, but it does genuinely pain me to see fellow entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and money to learn these same lessons.

If you are an entrepreneur, before you choose to work with The Groop please read this post. And read the books it recommends.

1. Build Less. Spend Less. Release More.

No matter how many features we have seen a start-up build into their software it has very little bearing on their success. For example in 2004-5 The Groop worked with Entrepreneur Zak Kahn to build TalentBoom. He spend a lot (a lot) of money to build then redesign and rebuild TalentBoom until it had enough features and he felt it was different enough from his competitors and had the right “design.”

Early on I told him to release (launch), release, release what he had so far and start monetizing it. He did not follow my advice.

Today the market leader is still Breakdown services and TalentBoom is still looking to gain traction.

Zak called me recently and let me know “You were right, I should have followed your advice.” More importantly he said that I could share my story with you.

I told him this before I had read Getting Real by 37signals the makers of the successful online project management tool BaseCamp. From Getting Real:

“If you want to build a company that follows, you might as well put down this book now.

So what to do then? The answer is less. Do less than your competitors to beat them. Solve the simple problems and leave the hairy, difficult, nasty problems to everyone else. Instead of oneupping, try one-downing. Instead of outdoing, try underdoing.”
From Getting Real

If you have not read the book you should read it now.
Is it the absolute truth in how to do an online start-up? I don’t know, but BaseCamp is an extremely successful subscription service. We use it and pay for it, you might too.

2. Design does not matter.

Yes, I said that. And yes by trade I am a very well trained Graphic Designer who paid a lot of money to attend Art Center College of Design, one of the top design schools in the world. And yes The Groop has designed and built many beautiful websites for great brands over the 9 years of its existence. And yes Apple is an amazing example of how Design (big D) matters.

“So dude, why are you saying such blasphemy?!” you might ask.

First let’s make some important distinctions that will help:
By “Design” I mean visual language such as your logo and what exact color your links are and the style of photography you might use.
By “Does Not Matter” I mean “matters less than the whole” in the context of adoption and monetization. (People using your online product or service and you making money from it.)

So what matters?

The next three principles outline what matters. And to illustrate each point I will use one of the most important client relationships in my 15-year web career. One who happens to be in a business that many might not deem as “sexy”, but that is executing very well. I am talking about the coupon and deal site Savings.com .

(more…)

Church of Twitter Hightlights Video

December 21st, 2009

Some of the reviews:

“Jammed packed with info!”

“Honest testimony, passion, thoughtful information”

“Loved the open and informative atmosphere”

“Engaging speakers, relevant discussion”


[ Mashable ] 5 Tips for Using Video to Grow Your Business in 2010

December 9th, 2009

By Patrick Moran | From Mashable

It’s no secret that online video is hot. A recent study by comScore revealed that in October 2009, more than 167 million viewers in the U.S. watched an average of 167 videos each, while YouTube (YouTube) reached 1 billion views per day – or 41 million views per hour – in the same month.

At my company, we’ve seen our own surge in video viewing. Video (video) now accounts for the largest number of files uploaded into online meetings on our platform.

1. Punch Up Your Web Site

The easiest way get started is simply to embed your videos on your Web site. You can use YouTube to do this, or alternatives like Vimeo or Sorenson Media. Once you’ve got the videos playing on your site, make sure they are easy to share by adding a “share this” button on each video so that viewers can pass them along via Twitter (Twitter), Facebook (Facebook), and other viral channels. Already on Twitter, 8 percent of all shared URLs are links to videos on YouTube.

2. Use Video to Sell
We’ve found that our sales reps see 20 percent higher close rates when they play a video at the beginning of their virtual sales demo. Other online services report similar results: Jivox, an online video ad platform, used this video demo on their web site to increase registrations by 25 percent – they even embedded a signup form right on the demo page to collect registrations. You can also use services like Wistia to share a video with prospects and track how they interact with the video.

Read Full List on Mashable

The (Digital) Future of Magazine Publishing is Here

December 3rd, 2009

From The Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital:

Game On: Time Inc. Shows Off a Tabletized Sports Illustrated

Read Full Article Here

Or watch video below.

Bookmeat Fundraiser Post Video

November 30th, 2009

Thank you to all who participated in making Bookmeat a success. The Side Street staff, the board and the event committee.
And thanks to the Groopies who gave of their time to help with the event marketing, AV and nifty video below.

Visit Side Street

Join Us Tonight for “Design Process Innovation” in Marina Del Rey

November 19th, 2009

Design is more than a pretty face.
Successful collaboration between designer and client is proven to improve business by many measurements.
Three designers and their clients present case stories demonstrating the value of design to the business enterprise.

Tonight November 19th, 2009
6:30PM to 8:30PM

Details Below.

Picture 1




“Ideas Hitman” David Brody from North Social to Speak at Church of Twitter

November 5th, 2009

When executives need a marketing catalyst to come in, challenge a “this is the way we’ve always done it” mindset, and inspire consumers to take immediate action, they ping Brody. Exploring and developing new innovative approaches to business is not a hobby for him; it’s a full time pursuit.

Brody arms North with over 20 years experience in venture analysis, brand strategy, product launches, retail promotions, consumer anthropology, and developing disruptive concepts in traditional and emerging mediums.

Before drinking the Virgin Kool-Aid, Brody wore just about every strategic leadership hat within the advertising industry; from Copywriter to Account Planner to Creative Director. He created and spearheaded the Concept Team for the Integer Group/TBWA, America’s 4th largest retail promotion agency with over 800 employees nationwide. The sole mission of this intrepreneurial project was to breed a higher degree of innovation and trigger breakthrough impact for new business and high-priority client initiatives; it resulted in putting more beers in hands, more butts in seats and game-changing thinking into motion for big brands like Coors and Coors Light, the NFL, EarthLink, Qwest Communications and United Airlines.

He first sharpened his experiential marketing chops as Director of Game Operations for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association, where he was recognized league-wide as a promotional innovator. Each home game he entertained the fans with a mix of stunts that included dropping pizzas from the arena rafters and showcasing on-court diaper derbies. He even taught the team’s mascot how to dunk (yes, “with authority”) off the mini-tramp. Brody graduated from the University of Arizona, and spends his free time pedaling bikes, tracking down the ultimate carne asada taco, and boasting about his prowess in Ping Pong.

Sean Bonner Metblogs Founder and the Host of iPhun to Speak at Church of Twitter

November 5th, 2009

Sean Bonner lives in Los Angeles though is often spotted elsewhere. He’s one of the guys behind Metblogs, the host of iPhun and has previously been involved with art galleries and record labels of the punk rock variety. He also is a big fan of bikes.

“Sean Bonner is a pioneer of social software, Internet memes and online publishing. In addition to being an excellent and highly sought-after speaker, he is quickly becoming known as one of the celebrated icons of the modern Internet subculture – his mere presence attracting huge crowds of fans. I for one am a true believer.”
- Joi Ito, CEO Creative Commons

He has been featured in GOOD, Wired, Playboy, Salon, Forbes and others, been included in Yahoo!’s Best of the Web, and has spoken at conferences, events, and coffee shops around the world.

As co-founder and CEO of Bode Media Inc, Sean helped create Metblogs, the worlds largest network of local media blogs. As a consultant, he has helped The Groop, Jack In The Box, LAPD, Suicide Girls, Obey Giant, Shopzilla and others interact with their customers, clients, and fans online. He also speaks frequently at conferences covering blogs, media, networks and grassroots journalism. Recently he’s spoken at IzeaFest (Orlando, FL), SXSWi (Austin, TX), Roboexotica (Vienna, Austria) and Re:Publica (Berlin, Germany). As an event organizer, Sean brought BarCamp to Los Angeles, produced the first art exhibition comprised solely of phonecam images, ran art auctions and benefits for the West Memphis Three. Sean is also a guest blogger/contributor for BoingBoingVideo and the host of the iPhone game review show iPhun.

You can find out more about Sean at his blog:
http://blog.seanbonner.com/

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