Tuesday, June 16. 2009

Too Many Social Networks...I'm all a Twitter

Over a year ago, I went to a presentation at a conference where the speaker was talking about how he had created a "map" of the multiple social networks that he used. I thought..."where does this guy find the time?" Now, we think nothing of using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others to enhance cybersocialization. Recent editions of both Time and Business Week focused on Twitter. Facebook, of course, has been written about to death.

Now comes the big question: What really is useful for my needs? In preparation for the GITA conference and user conferences for Intergraph, Pitney Bowes Business Insight and Korem, which I have attended recently, not to mention the upcoming ESRI UC, each event was or is touting multiple social networks to use during the event. This is in addition to yet new platforms, like Zerista, used by GITA, and Chance2Meet that are specifically for pre-conference networking so you can arrange meetings, etc.

Folks, I don't know about you but eventually all of this is going to shake out if for no other reason than market dynamics will blow one or more of these off the planet. Now, I like social nets as much as any Twitizen but you can see where your average "Joe" is confused by all the hype and bluster. When faced with the challenge of using your Facebook account to "friend" the Intergraph User's Conference, I might think twice.

I used Zerista extensively to set up meetings at GITA. It worked well, until I got to the event and then it was not particularly helpful since I was blogging and tweeting my news reports. I just didn't have time to use the Zerista interface thereafter. Plus, email is still the preferred social networking solution, right? Just send someone an email to set up an appointment.

So, all of this comes down to the fact that we just don't need to have an account with every social net that comes down the cyberpike. The problem is, everyone else thinks that if you don't support one social net over the other, someone will be left out or feel slighted...or worse, feel like they are not adequately networked for the Twiterati.

Posted by Joe Francica in Social Networking at 17:02 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0) |

Podcast: Location-based Advertising...It's Not Working...Here's Why

In the much-hyped, Madison Avenue world of mobile location-based advertising, the Holy Grail seems within the grasp for retailers looking for that one-to-one marketing nirvana oft cited in the early nineties. But in its current model, it’s not working the way it should or can. Today's business model uses "push" advertising to mobile devices. But what if the model should be "pull" thus allowing consumers to determine when, where and how they should receive ads. Editor in chief Joe Francica explores this model and more.

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Posted by Joe Francica in GPS, Directions on the News Podcast, Social Networking, LBS Market Sizing at 09:00 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0) |

Friday, June 12. 2009

Using Foursquare to Track InternetWeek Week Visitors

Sam Lessin (Drop.io) crunched data collected from some 100 contacts based on their "check ins" in the mobile social network Foursqaure during the weeklong event in NYC last month.

Lessin trawled through the data to find what time people checked into coffee shops in the morning (and whether they were doing this earlier or later on a given day), how much people "lost steam" over the course of a party- and conference-filled week, and how much the most popular gatherings actually matched up to the Internet Week New York official schedule. As it turns out, the hottest parties were impromptu, unofficial gatherings at the Standard Hotel and, um, Sing Sing Karaoke.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Routing, Tracking, Logistics at 12:31 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Tuesday, June 9. 2009

TomTom to Team with Apple; Stock Jumps 17%

After some tough months I'm sure the folks at TomTom were pleased with the market response to the announcement made yesterday at Apple World Wide Developer Conference. For now, TomTom is the only nav developer to partner with Apple. The first app, and a car kit for the iPhone, is slated for release this summer, when further details and pricing will be shared. One analyst suggested a $50 price point, about the same level as TomTom's introductory hardware offering, though this is far above the price of most apps in the AppStore.

- Wall Street Journal

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Satellite Navigation, Navigation, Routing, Tracking, Logistics, Apple at 08:35 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Wednesday, June 3. 2009

Most Searched Brands on Where...

Per GigaOm:

"Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut, Target, Papa Johns, McDonald’s, Bank of America and Taco Bell."

My question: how often do people search for a particular brand vs. a generic. That is, how often do people search "pizza" vs. "Papa Johns"? And, what does that say for the mom and pop hyperlocal vendors?

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in LBS at 06:00 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

BrightKite Blackberry App Goes Open Source

The app was written against the BrightKite API by a third party developer Chris Hallgren. He turned it open source to help make it flashier and better.

- ReadWriteWeb

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Open Source, LBS at 06:00 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0) |