Archive for November, 2010

Congratulations to our partners at San Francisco Ballet. They just hit 50,000 fans on Facebook. It’s clear there’s a lot of anticipation for the opening night of Nutcracker, which is just over a week away. So here’s to SF Ballet! Next stop 100,000!

Congratulations to our partners at (RED). Adage is calling the (RED) iPad app the Best iPad App for the Greater Good. On the app, you can watch the full length documentary, The Lazarus Effect, and learn more about how antiretroviral medicines (ARVs) are changing the lives of thousands of people with HIV in Africa. You can go here to learn more and download from iTunes. We’re also helping (RED) with their World Aids Day efforts. If you want to get involved, join a Meetup, or maybe a landmark in your city will be turning red. Over 40 cities will be turning their landmarks red to raise awareness about the goal of a AIDS free generation in 2015. You can learn more at the (RED) blog or by following (RED) on Facebook and Twitter.

In San Francisco? Like the ballet? Today’s the day our partners at San Francisco Ballet are running a Foursquare ticket giveaway. Click over to their site for more info.

Congratulations to our partners at Family Violence Prevention Fund for launching a new blog to share updates on the important work they do. Their first post, by President and Founder Esta Soler, tells of the critical need to pass the International Violence Against Women Act. This landmark legislation will help protect women all over the word from the brutality many face every day. Please click here to read more.

Announcements from Facebook’s Palo Alto headquarters are given special attention due to the sheer size of the start-up. Yes, we are still calling Facebook a startup. Dealing with them on a daily basis you realize they do not resemble their multinational rivals in efficiency, process, or products. While they may have over 500-million users, they still push products to market that are unrefined (groups) or unreliable (analytics). Their model is to test in market first, which leads to a fair share of headaches (read privacy). Read More…

James Boyce and Cody Damon had the pleasure to speak to the Board of Directors at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on Friday morning. Our friends at the Lab gave us an opportunity to speak about leveraging new media tools to further the Lab’s mission. James Boyce spoke about the shift in how organizations can effectively communicate to audiences by transitioning away from resource heavy methods like direct mail. While Cody Damon provided the hard data to highlight the cost-effectiveness of new media platforms like email and Google Adwords. But the highlight of the day was when the Board was asked the age of the average Facebook user. Do you know what it is? Read More…

Just as Nutcracker fever begins to spread this Holiday Season, we’re happy to announce a ticket give away promotion that we helped our partners at San Francisco Ballet organize. Unlike typical giveaways, this one will take advantage of the mobile game Foursquare. Users who check in to the San Francisco Ballet event “Snowflakes on Market,” at the Trolley turn around on November 18th in San Francisco, and tweet “#sfbnutcracker” have a chance to win tickets to the show. Head to the San Francisco Ballet Blog for more info.

Over the past few months we jumped head first into the world of birding. Our friends over at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology shared with us their enthusiasm, compassion, and just plain ridiculous knowledge of birds. How many people do you know that can identify a Yellow-rumped Warbler by sound? In return for growing our bird brains we have helped the Lab start a new community using Facebook. Getting a page started on Facebook is quite simple, but managing a community can be a little bit more tricky. The Lab will be using the page to answer questions, share birding knowledge, and engage the public in the science of birds. Did you know there are over 200,000 citizen-scientist who contribute to important research already? Drop on over to www.facebook.com/birds and find out for yourself how much birding has to offer.

Have you been wondering what the point of foursquare is? You are not alone. Businesses large and small have looked for ways to integrate the location-based application into their marketing strategy.  But beyond badges and mayorships there is very little reason to get involved on the platform. Badges to this point have been limited to production by foursquare and are heavily curated. And mayorships are only awarded to one person at a time – that being your most loyal customer. The dilemma is how do you get foursquare’s 4,000,000 users to engage with your content. Foursquare recently launched its self-service function for businesses to claim their location and to begin running specials that are specific to that location. You even have the ability to boot a mayor. Read More…

Just days after Jon Stewart eviscerated traditional media companies and pundits’ election coverage at the Rally to Restore Sanity, three social media companies – Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare – all marked election day by celebrating our civic duty and offering innovative approaches to covering the day’s events. Read More…