Monday, January 31, 2011

CouchSurfin' USA

The people asked for social networking.

And God said, "Let there be networking." And so He created MySpace.

But the people wanted more. And they prayed and thumped their chests and cried out for more.

And so God (and possibly Mark Zuckerberg) created Facebook.

But the people were still not satisfied. Neither the Book of Faces nor the Space of Mine sufficiently appeased their desire to be heard.

And so God created Twitter. And He said, “Go forth and speaketh in 140 characters or less.”

And so, the people tweeted.

But the people still were not satisfied. And so God created…

Couchsurfing? 

What is this “couchsurfing” we speak of?

A recent phenomenon (the first couch was surfed, circa 1999), it all began with couchsurfing.org, “a service in which members offer a spare couch – or bed, or floor space – to fellow couchsurfers, at no charge.”

The concept has since grown to include many other sites at which people can rent out apartments and homes all over the world. (AirBnB.com and iStopOver.com are just two popular newcomers to the scene.) 

Couchsurfing takes social networking to a whole new level. Though some say that the very nature of social networking ironically makes us anti-social (interactions are far more limited across a computer screen), this concept allows for entirely new friend-making possibilities.

Couchsurfing networks bring together the virtual and the real. It also brings together random strangers. (Unlike traditional social networks which help us more deeply connect with people we already know.)

So where will social networking take us next? 

And God said, “Ye faithful social networkers, sit back and think about it.”

-Jamie

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Friday, January 21, 2011

An Extrovert Goes Mobile

On Wednesday, The Business Development Institute held a program, "Mobile Healthcare Communications: Case Studies & Roundtables," at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.


We asked Supervising Account Extrovert, Jared Shechtman (shown above), to attend and report back to us. The following is his recap, verbatim.

Hope you find it as helpful and enjoyable as we did:


From: Jared Shechtman 

Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 11:45 PM

To: Extrovertic DL

Subject: Recap: Mobile Healthcare Communications at BDI

Hi All -

I had the opportunity this morning to sit in on Mobile Healthcare Communications Case Studies and wanted to pass along some of the learnings.

First observation: the number of people who stare at their mobile devices throughout a mobile healthcare conference is astounding.

Key learnings/notes:

• Protonix just launched a mobile co-pay program allowing patients to text to enroll and receive a mobile based coupon for fulfillment in addition to the ability to opt in for adherence program features.
• Pfizer Australia has launched an app that indicates pet friendly locations (restaurants, beaches, etc.) 

      – A non app version is also available on: http://www.pawclub.com.au
• Pfizer's mobile traffic has increased x4 since last year and is expected to double again by Q3
• A mobile friendly version of pfizer.com launched yesterday
      – Consider mobile using when building all websites, this is an excellent example of online best practices
• Pfizer goals for mobile are to increase visibility, traffic, awareness and to optimize their site
• It was noted that at present Pfizer has been very Apple focused (iPhone apps only) but that will be changing in the near future
      – Being mobile platform agnostic is important as Android continues to increase share. Mobile is moving so quickly new data is coming out almost daily!
• One of the most important keys to any mobile / social push is that applications/assets need support via media and other drivers
• 96% of gen Y (tomorrows customers) are on social networks
• RipRoad in association with Mount Sinai presented a case study on a text based Q&A forum for teenagers that has proven to be highly successful
      – Concept could be applied to a nurse help line offering
• Overall takeaway: Mobile/social will quickly not be thought of as completely separate specialities but will become a standard part of the mix



Lastly, this conference shamed me into finally signing up for Twitter, follow my adventures at JaredS81

Thnx!



Jared


While we're at it, my Twitter address is MDrossman and Dorothy's is Extrovertic. Hope to hear from you soon!
-MD

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