Archive for January, 2010

Steps to Hosting a Successful Online White Elephant Party…

white elephant party hosting tips –

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King Thibaw
The Royal Thibaw, Golden-footed Lord of the White Elephant, Master of a Thousand Gold Umbrellas, Owner of the Royal Peacocks, Lord of the Sea and of the World, Whose face is like the Sun.

7 Simple Rules for the AlbinoPhant Online Party…

Party Rules Fun Tips –

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King Thibaw
The Royal Thibaw, Golden-footed Lord of the White Elephant, Master of a Thousand Gold Umbrellas, Owner of the Royal Peacocks, Lord of the Sea and of the World, Whose face is like the Sun.

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We were never Helicopter Parents, but we always stayed close to the landing pad.

Our home was the take-off strip and the landing zone at the beginning and at the end of many great adventures. We viewed our job as part air traffic control, part runway maintenance, and part TSA or emergency response team. The job took most of 30 years and we loved every arrival and each departure…

It was four years ago that our youngest left and we began searching for a way to maintain connections and still provide worthwhile ground support to the crew.

Like millions of other Boomers, Sarah and I have an empty concourse and gates that go mostly unused.

Today, most of the adventures happen thousands of miles away, making hovering impossible.

Regardless, there were two traditions that we desired to maintain for our dispersed family, as we moved forward with life… Game play and gift giving. We did a lot of both of these activities in our family room over the years, and we didn’t want to stop.

We decided to build a temporary landing strip on the internet, were everyone could touchdown for a short refuel of family connection between their individual adventures… We started a virtual family party, mimicking the birthday, holiday and wedding gatherings of our past.

We tested our family game for three years to make sure that it would fly and then we rolled it out for others to use. It is a gift to our children and to our friends who also find themselves hovering outside of new landing zones.

This game will not turn back time, or refill our home with the traffic of the past. But for a few days there are landings on every runway, and we can experience the excitement and renewed connection of every arrival and each departure.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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InsideFacebook announced today that Facebook is opening a data-center in our great state!

What started on a small server just a few years ago has grown to become a world wide phenomenon. We are happy to be an applications that benefits from the network that Facebook has built. We appreciate the fact that Facebook is so open to our work…

Now Prineville’s economy will benefit from the growth in this industry.

We welcome them to our state (we also moved from California 6 years ago) and hope that Facebook will continue to grow and prosper.

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Two powerful families are married for user convenience and for future opportunity.

So far, the wedding has been kept hush hush and is flying under the radar… So don’t expect this to make the front pages of the tabloids anytime soon.

It seems the social media superstar Facebook, with its huge entourage of friends has been secretively matched to Amazon’s world leading product inventory, by a party application developer.

Like most weddings, the focus is on a party, and in this case the party is the center of attention. Gifts for the party are to come from the Amazon side of the isle and the guest list will be handled by Facebook.

E-commerce insiders understand that the Facebook family is a very close-knit bunch and that an arraigned marriage will benefit both sides in this case. Massive gift sales is on the mind of the Amazon group and greater support and conversation is what Facebook members are counting on from this union.

Social media followers feel that the long-term success of this marriage will likely be a result of the party atmosphere in which the two have found common ground. Sociologists have long known that couples who communicate well and share with one another have a better than average chance to find success.

The fact that Amazon will shower the Facebook family with gifts should keep both parties happy, particularly when the Facebook side can see the profits that can be generated through real gift giving. Of course, Amazon is happy to offer gifts to a partner who has so many family members pre-disposed to share with each other.

This marriage is expected to produce several great party applications that will benefit the entire family during birthdays, weddings, baby births and many holidays. The next generation of Facebook applications will benefit from the superior DNA of Amazon and Facebook to build a great experience for the users of social networks.

Look for more details of this story as they develop….

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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Are there any other people who are experiencing what Sarah and I are living through? Are there other stories like ours?

Twenty-five years of child-rearing trained us to pay attention to the lives of the five unique personalities placed in our care. We spent our time between watching and participating in the developing story of our children’s lives. We helped write the first few chapters, but now they author their own stories, independently and from a distance.

I must believe that many other moms and dads of grown children are experiencing and struggling with a similar change in roles… From story director to story observer.

There is a feeling of loss at first. Not only of the physical presence and the missing sounds of young voices, but of the missing responsibility that comes with actively directing the story for so many years. There is a realization that the independence that you promoted for so long has turned on you, and left you only to watch what happens next.

It is hard to sit on the sidelines when for so long you have been in the middle of the action.

What can be done?

The answer lies in the realization that watching and participating in the life story of our family doesn’t end at the empty nest. We learn to contribute from a different perspective and find ways to add value to the growing stories being written in other locations.

In our case, it involved building an electronic mimic of our family room, where everyone could join for a few hours of conversation and fun together. This is a place where mom and dad can electronically watch and participate in the story again. An internet family night, if you will. A web-based party like those we hosted in our family room many times before.

Our family game will never take us back in time or fill the house with the sound of childrens laughter… But for a few days during the party, we can enjoy the familiar arguing between our children. We can experience the humor and the cleaver banter of our new “in-law” children, and witness some of the stories that they are all now telling.

For a short period of time, their lives join with ours on the pages of a website, in an activity that promotes telling stories and sharing fun as a family.

As far as I am concerned, that is the great story that we share with you, and we plan to stick with it…

NOTE: I was inspired to write this story from a post that Jim Gilmartin contributed to the Media Post organization concerning the Baby Boomer Generation.

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Amazon runs huge product warehouses. In fact, there are now 24 of these massive distribution centers world-wide, stocking everything from CDs to bicycle tires.

The online retailer moves 3-times as much product through these warehouses than it’s next closes competitor.

Over 40% of the products that move through the supply system are sold by merchants other than Amazon itself. There are over 1.3 million suppliers who provide the products that are for sale on Amazon.com and through these other merchants.

When consumers  rank the trusted technology companies for privacy, they usually put Amazon in the top 5.

In 2009 PartyWeDo was looking for an e-commerce partner for the gift party application, AlbinoPhant. The natural choice was Amazon.

Amazon works great for a gift merchandising application because of their massive selection and top-notch customer service.

The gift exchange system uses a level pricing system for each custom AlbinoPhant marketplace. Each host selects the level at which their invitees will spend for the gift and the AlbinoPhant software sorts through the Amazon Warehouse to display products in that pricing category.

PartyWeDo hired the Utah based e-commerce software firm Gyrofly, to build the special interface that would allow each party guest to pay one price and cover the cost of the gift, the shipping and the fun.

The resulting markets are filled with thousands of gifts that can be used to share in the fun of a Yankee Swap or White Elephant Gift Exchange.

When any gift is selected from one of the AlinoPhant markets, it is identified by a unique number. This number allows us to use the image of the gift during the game play period and also ship the correct item from the Amazon warehouse to the correct players doorstep.

This system allows the virtual world of the internet to marry seamlessly with the real world of gift shopping and delivery.

All of these marvelous technologies and efficient shipping systems allow family and friends to purchase gifts, share them online and then receive a present at their home.

Thank you Amazon, for joining the party!

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
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There are studies that suggest that older Americans, 55-plus, are less reliant on social networks than most demographic groups. This seems to fly in the face of recent reports that Facebook is rapidly expanding its 50-plus user rolls.

Baby boomers are joining the social networks, but are they being social? There are some indications that they only join for specific reasons, and they don’t participate like younger demographics. Does this mean that social networks fail the Boomer?

No, it just means that Boomers need the networks for different reasons, and they may not have been invited to the right party just yet.

This age group sees Facebook and Skype as tools and not entertainment.. And if the tool doesn’t connect them generationally and historically it is the wrong party.

Generational, in that they want connection to their parents, children and grandchildren. And historically so that they can reach out to people from their past and get “caught up”.

Penny Ireland’s family is so scattered around the world, that Facebook has become the family’s No. 1 way to communicate.

Margaret Brooks, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, joined the site because there was no other place for her to see her grandson’s artwork.

Sarah and I relate to both Penny’s and Margaret’s needs.  We have raised our family, but don’t want to miss out on the great things that are happening in their lives, right now. Boomers want to be able to continue to provide support, even when distance works against their efforts. Facebook provides a place to use the social networking tools in an efficient and pointed way.

Facebook has been growing particularly rapidly amongst people over 45 in the US, with growth of over 165% amongst both men and women 45-54.

And all of these Boomers are beginning to become Seniors Citizens, reaching sixty years old. As the social networks build the tools that older Americans need, they will be inviting even more people into the party. And reaching the Boomers today, with the right social components, will deliver marketers with a well trained, well financed group of customers for many years to come.

Cynthia Edwards, posted the following in an email marketing blog;  “Seniors are a rapidly growing segment in our society, and one of great potential value to marketers. According to the US Census Bureau, in the next five years alone, the population of those over 65 will increase by 40%, from 36.8 million to 51.7 million.  In the U.S., that could add up to 88.5 million people over 65, comprising 20% of the population”.

Facebook does have more active users in the younger demographics, but some of the tools that are associated with this network giant are the perfect fit for the boomers and seniors of tomorrow.

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PartyWeDo
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The success of Facebook is rooted in the conversational flow between friends and family. This network has become a mimic of many of our traditional human interactions and is now exploring ideas beyond just talk.

There is a movement afoot to move some commercialization onto this conversational superhighway, and the jury is still out whether it will add to the experience or create a road littered with potholes.

In a recent discussion on the merits of e-commerce stores on the Facebook highway, Shiv Singh, vice president and global social media lead at Razorfish. suggested that, “e-commerce activities should be presented in ways that don’t intrude on the conversational flow of Facebook.”

We agree with Mr. Singh that a social superhighway cluttered with billboards and shopping malls will disrupt the flow. But we believe there is value in providing e-commerce real estate when it enhances the personal interaction and makes the conversation grow.

The discussion focused on a coffee merchandiser who is moving an e-commerce operation onto a Facebook page. Michael Straus, spokesman for the coffee company suggested that they were “looking to integrate its social media strategy with e-commerce”.

It could be augured that coffee shops are a regular landmark along any highway and are also recognized conversational hubs. So coffee shops might be a good idea for Facebook users.

But what other retail shops would make the social road more enjoyable?

Another thought leader was concerned with the idea of selling stuff on Facebook. Mike Lazerow, CEO of Buddy Media said, “People aren’t using Facebook right now to buy stuff”. “They use it to talk to friends, see pictures, play games, learn about new products, connect with companies and products that they love.” He suggested that this mindset might eventually change as shopping opportunities become part of the typical Facebook experience.

Direct selling on Facebook is very new, but so far, most agree that the key is to make the activity a part of the conversational format that attracts users to the experience.

We support Mr. Lazerow’s contention that friends, pictures and games are the conversational resources that currently fuel the Facebook engine. We understand that any e-commerce application should be a good fit for the road, or should stay off the highway.

We suggest that gift shops are a good fit and will be common on the social networks in the near future. These e-commerce stores will be stocked games and group activities that will allow real gifts to become a part of the conversation and the support among family and friends.

In that day, the Facebook experience will include established online gift merchants who support the birthdays, weddings, baby births and holidays that are shared by every conversationalist on the road.

The social highways will be full of large motor homes filled with groups enjoying a fun game and some real gifts that they picked up at the roadside gift store.

How do you see e-commerce merging onto Facebook?

Thanks to enchantedhighway.net for the image. (you should visit this place and see the huge metal sculptures)

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists