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.

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!

A bridge for the generations

I have worked in construction for many years and have an appreciation of what can be done with concrete, steel and human ingenuity. So you can imaging how impressed I am with this dramatic bridge project…

But, today I received a photo in Facebook that really impressed me… These are my two oldest grand daughters building a memory for me. A dramatic memory, constructed from fuzzy flannel and pink polka-dot material.  A memorable image of a set of silly faces that I cherish.

Someday I might travel from Vegas to the Grand Canyon, and the new bridge at Hoover Dam will save some time and will display great vistas for my drive.  But the picture of the bridge will never hang on my refrigerator as a shrine to marvelous construction, like this costumed duo will, starting tomorrow…

My daughter-in-law’s construction of these cute costumes demonstrates that concrete and steel are not mutually exclusive to strong bridge construction. These kids hamming around, captured and shared in social media, is why the internet can be such a powerful bridge between generations.

Facebook, along with many other powerful web tools, have used great ingenuity to build bridges that span far greater distances than any river canyon.  Just this Halloween, we have used Skype to learn what a grandson in New Hampshire wore for trick or treat, a cell phone image to witness the costumes worn in Utah by two other granddaughters, and Facebook to connect with all the rest.

Before these marvelous bridges of connection were made available, we could only use the slow twisty road of old systems.  It is like a trick of magic how we are transforming our lives with these applications, in so many great ways.

It has given us real treat this Halloween.

get glowing reviews on the party

If it has a cord, a battery or solar cells it can be a real shocker of a gift.  Adding these electrical items into the gift exchange party can really turn-on the conversation.

Try a “Shocking theme” for your next Yankee Swap or white elephant gift exchange. Invite your friends to the party, but tell them that all the gifts must have something to do with electricity or power.

You will be shocked and amazed how creative your friends will be in stretching the meaning of power, as they open gifts and banter about what is revealed in the swap.

This extra dimension will spice up the traditional white elephant party or the online version of the Yankee swap. Your friends will be more engaged and will have a better memory of your party.

Then, if you really want to liven up the event; require that every comment, image or video that they post or discuss in the party has some tie to electricity or power.  Partiers will start defending what they do and say, as other players accuse them of forgetting to follow the rules.  When it gets going, the more arguing and banter will build more laughter and greater fun.

Try one of these shocking gift exchanges this year. You will add some real juice to the conversation and flip the switch on the fun, as you plug into creativity of your group.

We spent some time in one of the AlbinoPhant markets to pull out some ideas for the “Shocking” Yankee swap.