Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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Another giant in online retailing is moving closer to the online party concept. Ebay announced a new group gift giving application for sharing gifts.

Retailers understand that gift giving in the US is a 100-billion dollar market, and that families and friends support each other in groups. Millions of groups gather every week to celebrate birthdays, weddings, baby births and more. Right now we do the gathering in homes and businesses, but in the future we will do more gathering and giving online.

Ebay is taking a step in the right direction with this gift purchasing idea. The cost of gifting and the increased expense of travel makes online solutions to sharing practical.

Ebay is finding ways to join these groups together in an online group activity that centers on gift giving. You get the social interaction and the added personal reward of being supportive to someone you care about.

It is a party that we do when we want to join in gift sharing. Now Ebay is suggesting ways to link with others in the shopping experience. Ebay has always been a good source for white elephant gifts so taking the next step makes perfect sense.

All of this gift sharing, gift shopping and gift exchanging with online tools will someday make the delivery of gifts to distant groups be like giving UPS drivers a party hat…

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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Dave McClure is a business venture explorer who blogs about start-ups and invests money to help them succeed.

He wrote an open letter discussing the gap that Facebook and Twitter leave in the social fabric of the internet.

His discussion involves the problem of intimacy in social networks and describes what each of these social giants do right and wrong.

Many internet participants feel the same gap when it comes time to have personal discussions with tight-knit groups of family or friends on Facebook.

But there was one statement that really caught my attention in his rant… “Intimate relationships that might just monetize more powerfully with 3 close friends, than they do with 300 acquaintances.”

We spend billions of dollars to support our most intimate relationships. We don’t spend any money gathering the wall posts of thousands of Facebook “friends”. We share fun and personal connections with those we are really close with, not with an avatar who befriended us.

In a world of hopeful monetization networks, we know that the online party is the perfect place to spend time sharing the intimate feelings and support that only happens between true friends.

We at AlbinoPhant are letting the world know that they can share great relationships and fun gifts from any distance using internet-based social game rooms. White elephant gift parties can be hosted and played online, just like they are in the real living rooms and church basements around the country.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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You would think that powerful social media leaders would endorse big group parties. After all, their perspective is based upon socializing with all of the world wide web.

But I found it interesting that one of the biggest names in social networking discussed his Facebook personal account, which he manages just for those he is closest too. I completely understand why Chris Brogan’s family runs on Facebook, in what could be considered a private party.

Chris has many friends within the internet social space, including Facebook. I am grateful for his connection with me in a few of these web networks and our brief discussions on family in the past. I know that he keeps his family close in both life and business.

Keeping our family close is why parties are so important to our culture of social support and love. Family parties are closed events; private and intimate expressions based upon personal deep-rooted connection.

The same individuals who attend a huge gala party at the civic center to improve their social status, crave the private party in the family room to celebrate the important life-events of those whom they love.

Facebook has become just one tool in providing families various levels of communication, from broad to intimate.

Our family has used these internet tools as a way to stay personally connected in a spirit of love and support, no matter the distance.

The massive world of the web has given us back our private party. What about you?

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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Louis Gray shares cutting edge trends he finds on the internet. Today he shared a new feature from Brizzly.com that allows family and friend groups a chance to have private (or public) chats together, sort of like a traditional white elephant gift exchange.

Louis suggests that the result is “a fun free-flowing environment to chat with friends, family and colleagues without fear of the content going public”…

As I read of the features that are a part of the new Picnic system, I am struck by how similar this is to our Banter Box on the AlbinoPhant game play page.

From the Brizzly site:
“You can do what you’ve been doing on other social networks – sharing links, posting photos & videos, making jokes, having conversations – but with specific groups of people”. “You can also upload photos from your computer and take photos with your computer’s webcam. Link to a video from YouTube or Vimeo and we’ll embed it so it’s playable right inside the picnic”.

Brizzly’s Picnic and AlbinoPhant’s “Banter Box” have the same features that add to the conversation between close family and friends.

The online party process in AlbinoPhant and the Brizzly chat system approach groups from different directions. Brizzly is a reader that works with Twitter and Facebook. AlbinoPhant and other PartyWeDo events are gift distribution parties that use the banter and sharing features to enhance the white elephant gift giving experience for the group. Both systems enhance the networking potential of a specific group. Each service adds to the fun free-flowing chat that develops when people of a like mind get together.

We take our hat off to Brizzly for joining the party!

 

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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If we look down the “internet road” we can see a day when parties in person will combine with online parties to include everyone…

Online parties will be next…

Skype and Facebook are both figuring out how to mesh video chat and social networking into one package.

Envision a baby shower for a new mommy who has friends all around the country. Currently the shower attendees are limited to those who live close or are willing to travel to be with the new mother in person.

With Skype and a networking system, like Facebook the activities could be shared by video and coordinated online and in person. Some of the attendees would be sharing gifts that are opened directly by the mommy, while other gifts are opened virtually and displayed on the computer, only to be delivered by UPS later.

The glue that would make this event stick in the memory of everyone involved would be an engaging activity that combined both the computer crowd and the live crowd in the action.

Thanks to the video advances of Skype and the networking abilities of social media, we will all eventually make every party and share in all the fun.

We can envision a day when online parties like AlbinoPhant will be commonplace in white elephat gift sharing times. When other important life events are connected to internet activity sources that allow any distance to be bridged.

Distance will not be a stop sign on the future internet roads.

 

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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Media Post has been discussing the word engagement and Gord Hotchkiss set out to present the two definitions.

Both definitions are tied to a personal connection and commitment to something beyond our own self. To be engaged is several steps past just showing up or just being involved with someone or in something. In fact, the word engagement has become quite a buzz in social media companies. We even have books that focus on how to be more engaged or engaging on the internet.

Our business revolves around party activities, so we ask the question: Can you have an engaging engagement party?

The answer is yes… From the “ring and wedding” perspective, the engagement period can be one of the most engaging times in a couples life. If done right, all the family becomes engaged in the process.

The impact of a wedding announcement is widespread, even though the focus is on a singular event. There are two distinct families to be introduced, connected and finally united.

But even a traditional engagement party leaves some people out in the cold; feeling less engaged in the process. The level of connection is naturally diminished for some family members who live a distance from the bride and groom.

When an engagement party is planned, there are often those who feel left out because they cannot afford to travel for the real party. In this case the distance builds barriers to personal engagement.

The solution to this challenge is to find ways to engage others without the need to travel. The new tools on the internet can help to involve distant relatives and friends at the start of the engagement period, and through to the wedding party. Skype, Facebook and Youtube can all be employed to share some of the exciting steps toward the nuptials.

Weddings create a flurry of party and gift giving opportunities that are used to support and demonstrate love for the couple. Those who live close get the great parties and participate in the fun personal interactions. It is sad that distance is a restriction for some friends during this important life event.

How could the web be employed to make the engagement party more engaging for even the most distant friend?

We have a few ideas, like some sort of online party…. What about you?

 

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

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I raised five teenagers… I know when I am being worked!

How do we reach the time-tested mom?
Mothers have a sixth sense when they are presented with a story that just doesn’t seem to add up. After years of such pitches, these women have a very polished intuition.

This is why advertisers struggle reaching these ladies on social networks. And why Baby Boomer women will give virtual gifts a very short life span.

These women have spent years providing real experiences for their families. A virtual hug is a nice diversion, but it holds no value for the serious mother who nurtures with reality.

Advertisers are learning that these experienced mothers don’t want their social walls cluttered with mindless junk. They see Facebook as a real tie to children who have left the nest and a link with old friends.

It remains our contention that REAL things are the only sustainable purpose for social networks, especially for women over 50. Marketers need to be reminded that this demographic is increasing by the millions almost daily and that women don’t need to be pitched junk when they know how good the real thing is…

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

Share Billions are spent every year to show Mom our appreciation.
This year Facebook games are adding to the support that Mother’s receive.

A report in the blog Inside Social Games from TrialPlay states that; “...in the days leading up to Mother’s Day, promotional offers dubbed “gifts for mom” generated around $1 million per day”. This revenue was mostly from the sales of flower deliveries for Mom’s around the world.

This action was a boost of 5 times the action usually received by game developers, as they capitalized on our love of Mom…

Two things are interesting about this information: First, it points to the value that we place on supporting each other with real gifts. And second, it demonstrates that we will use online tools to share in the giving process with each other.

And where do most real gifts get distributed within families? At parties and other social gatherings. In fact, there was almost $15 billion spent on real gifts this last Mother’s day and nearly 20% was spent online!

The value of the new internet tools like Facebook, Amazon and PayPal is that we can use the web to share gifts with even the most distant loved ones. We can celebrate important events right from our computer.

These are the reasons that we have such a passion for online parties…

We see a day when everyone can use this platform for sharing real gifts on Mother’s Day and every other important holiday. We are happy to be on the leading edge of this effort.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

We are on the hunt for a technical partner or co-founder for the PartyWeDo network.  We have reached out to a few individuals that we have met during the AlbinoPhant development process. They have been very helpful in pointing us to several resources. 

We have also sought the advice of various internet based experts as we refine what we are offering. These experts suggest a well crafted Elevator Pitch as the basic introduction to our plans. We appreciate the suggestions from the guys at Venture Hacks, who have written much on this subject.

We also stumbled upon a post from Dave McClure on pitching the problem and not the solution.

I don’t use the language that Mr. McClure often chooses to make his points, but his post on problems makes a great deal of sense. 

Dave’s suggestion is that the “problem” that needs the clearest definition,  as opposed to a discussion concerning building a solution.

So… Dave McClure… Here is a problem:

You don’t live close to all the people that you love and want to share gifts with. This distance causes you to miss personal gift delivery opportunities. You feel guilty that you can’t be there to offer your support at birthday parties, weddings, baby births, graduations and holiday gatherings.   Sure, you know how to shop and ship, but UPS doesn’t deliver your love and personality with the package.  It is sad that you can’t be in several places at the same time, because you will miss some of the great parties that are planned by those you love.

You, me, and millions of other people face this same problem, because we live to far away to really show our love and support in person.

While I am thinking about problems Dave, here is another one…

Facebook, and other social platforms are very dependent on advertising as a business model.  This model really has nothing other than eye-ball volume to sell. These networks must rely on limited advertising budgets to fund their business; and there are many advertising choices.

NOW FOR SOLUTIONS:

1. Give distant friends and family the opportunity to join in the party and share their personality and presents from wherever they reside.
2. Partner with a vast number of eCommerce companies to sell the gifts for the party and earn commissions to fund a socially-center business.

Mr. McClure I would appreciate your thoughts on these problems.  (Oh yes, if you could recommend a technical co-founder I would appreciate the lead)

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists