Posts Tagged ‘TechCrunch’

We have been suggesting that sharing REAL gifts through social networks is a viable solution for dispersed family and friends. We have even built a demonstration application called AlbinoPhant to prove our point.

Sometimes we feel like our story if falling on deaf-ears; because the idea is so new and unproven…

But we know it can be done and are just waiting for others to agree.

We would like to thank the Reddit users for their absolute proof that a gift exchange can be organized and completed using internet connections.

Antonio Cangiano’s Blog shares the story:  Antonio writes; “Dan McComas (kickme444 on Reddit) came up with a website to collect sign-ups, and put forward a few ground rules for participants. For instance, to cut down on the number of ill-intentioned users (the so called trolls), only users who were already registered with Reddit before November 10, 2009 were allowed to sign-up for the gift exchange.”

Further TechCrunch reported that this Secret Santa style exchange has demonstrated that almost 4500 internet users can exchange personal details (including shipping information) and share over 5000 gifts with other online users.

Now,  these were not virtual gifts…
The Reddit group shared $160,000 in REAL gifts!
They even earned a Guinness World Record for thier efforts.

OK, people…. WE TOLD YOU THIS COULD BE DONE…!!!

We also  suggested that sharing real gifts and using the images to represent the real thing, would work as well… Again the proof of this vision is in the redditgifts.com photo gallery.

We now have proof that an online gift exchange can be hosted, organized, facilitated, and indeed work in social spaces.

PartyWeDo will continue to promote this opportunity for family and friends to share real gifts online, using a fun and engaging traditional party game.  We are confident that the rest of the world will eventually catch up…

Thank you Dan and your Reddit community for proving our point…

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists

I just completed a quick educational study in social gaming scams. I still don’t understand all the many nuances of the scheme, but it doesn’t sound right to me.

At one time, I wanted our online party application to be considered a social game, but now I am rethinking the association.

From now on, AlbinoPhant is not a social game, but is a Gift Sales Facilitator.

This title is not nearly as catchy as social game, yet it does describes what we do… Maybe we should have an acronym in the title, like GSF party game…

The fact is that we have a great deal of social features in our party game. So we could be considered a social game. There are multiple players joining in a game, and there is a comment stream with shared videos and images on the game play page….   But, we are NOT a game using offer-scams. We are a party game, with REAL gifts to offer. Yes, real gifts that are purchased in eCommerce and shipped directly to each players door.

The stories of these social game scam bother me, and I want no part of the association…

My first introduction to this issue was in an Andrew Chen blog post titled: Are social gaming offers scamming users? A detailed analysis of Techcrunch’s Scamville article.
Andrew’s discussion led me to a link back to the originator of this apparent firestorm, Michael Arrington of Techcrunch. I read Michael’s post and concluded that for sure, don’t want to be called a social game.

This “offers” business seems like a grab for money in an industry that has challenges finding monetizing solutions. Frankly, I am sad to hear that gaming customers are being treated badly and that legitimate advertisers are being drug through the dirt by these negative associations.

So here is how a Gift Sales Facilitator/GSF party game works:

* First, you recognize that people are sharing gifts (real gifts not virtual mumbo jumbo) with each other during the holidays and at events all year long.

* Next, you find the most common party activity that groups use to socialize and share these gifts with each other.

* Finally, you build an application that facilitates the sale of the gifts, and provides a fun way to pass the gifts around in an online party game.

Mix those 3 components into a social network platform and you get a gift sales facilitator on Facebook…

I wish that I could have used the descriptive title of a Social Game. It might be easier to market than breaking new ground. But I choose to distance our White Elephant Party and future products from the mud-slinging, and just pioneer a new category:

I also realize that there is a bunch of money flowing through the Offers model.  But when I look at how many birthday, wedding, graduation and holiday gifts are purchase every year, I say…. Let me facilitate some of that honest and profitable action.

For now just call us a Gift Sales Facilitator or maybe a GSF party game.

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PartyWeDo
The AlbinoPhant Creators
Your Party 2.0 Specialists