Chick-fil-A Leadercast: Leveraging social media as an interactive meeting tool
Several months ago I was a virtual attendee of the Chick-fil-A Leadercast. It is a conference where well-known speakers come together to speak about leadership. The event takes place in Atlanta and is broadcasted to countries around the globe. This was the first year the event was broadcast in Puerto Rico (thanks to the people at uKnow), and several other thousand viewers were watching from many locations. This year Jim Collins, Tony Dungy and John Maxwell were just a few of the leaders that shared their experiences with audiences.
This was my first time to attend an event such as this, and I was amazed on how they leveraged Twitter as a social media tool. First, they used it as a tool to send questions to the speakers; and second, for the interaction of the users attending the event. I am a relatively new user of Twitter and am constantly learning on how to use it in a productive and fun way. At the beginning, the local hosts of the event explained to the attendees how to interact with the speakers and attendees using the hash tag #cfaleadercast. Immediately, I created a search on my iPhone and began seeing tweets from around the globe. Technically the event had not even started, but on Twitter, the event was already well underway, with attendees and speakers interacting and sharing their experiences.
iPhone App Review: Editing and sharing photos just got easier with Instagram
With the release of the iPhone 4, Apple thankfully brought its onboard camera into the 21st century. Equipped with a flash, increased megapixels, a real zoom, and High Dynamic Range (HDR) capabilites, iPhone users can now take real photographs. This isn’t too say that the iPhone 4 is going to replace a high quality, SLR camera as a photographer’s tool of choice, but for the regular, everyday photographer, it means that photographs that look good on the iPhone can also look good in actual digital prints. With photo sharing and ordering apps like Snapfish, users can upload directly from the iPhone and order the prints from their account more easily than ever before.
Alternatively, some users don’t really want to order the prints, but they do want to be able to share them easily. That being said, there are still some basic, onboard photo editing tools that would be nice to have on the iPhone. After all, most iPhone users aren’t professional photographers. They take photos that are off-center or contain random strangers who just happened to be standing next to whatever one wanted to photograph. Along these lines, who wants to have to download the picture to the Mac/PC and edit it, before sharing it? This is where apps like Instagram step in to make the iPhone user’s life easier.
Is there a Facebook, Skype partnership on the horizon?
According to an exclusive obtained by All Things Digital, it seems that Skype may soon be coming to a Facebook profile near you. Sources close to the situation have reportedly confirmed that the two companies will soon announce the integration of Skype’s VoIP services into Facebook’s ever-growing behemoth of a social media platform. The deal would bring SMS and voice chat features into a Facebook Connect feature of Skype.
Both platforms are already successful. So what is the lure for a partnership? If the reports are true and the deal actually comes to fruition, both Facebook and Skype stand to benefit in terms of both popularity and financial return. How is this possible? The genius of the idea lies beyond the public’s potential benefit of having more options available to them in a single, social media mecca.
Would you buy a Facebook phone?
Facebook often sets the virtual trend. First it was poking people. Then, it was growing virtual produce. Most recently, it’s been geotagged check-ins. Will the next big thing from Facebook be a phone?
It seems the probabilty is quite high. Though the company previously denied the rumor, it has resurfaced again thanks to Bloomberg and Reuter’s reports. Reportedly, Facebook and London-based INQ Mobile Ltd are partnered up and in the process of creating two smartphone. The only other information provided by the unnamed sources is that AT&T is considering carrying the device and that it could debut in Europe as early as the first half of 2011, with a U.S. release later the same year.
Facebook Places – What would Jason Bourne do?
Last night, Facebook unveiled its newest tool for Facebook users. Known as Facebook Places, it’s designed to let people ‘check in’ and share their current location, along with what they’re doing there. For users of previously established services like Gowalla and Foursquare the idea is nothing new. They’ve been reporting and recording their travels for some time now. Users of the social media platform Twitter are more likely to be aware of what location-based check in services are, since they’re accustomed to reporting their own whereabouts or, in some cases, seeing others do it.
For the average Facebook users, though, the idea may be totally new. Basically, users of the iPhone Facebook app, as well as other smartphone users whose devices support Facebook’s mobile interface and geotagging (or geolocation, as it’s also known), will be able to check in at their current location, say what they’re doing, and who they’re with. While it may sound benign enough, Facebook’s past privacy gaffs lead many to wonder if this is just another marketing opportunity for Facebook, at the expense of the unwitting user. Of course, this is definitely the ‘Jason Bourne’ way of looking at it. Is Facebook Places as evil as privacy groups would lead us to believe or is it a useful tool that, if properly configured, can be used to our benefit?
TweetDeck for Android – More leaked beta mirrors posted
For the past couple of days, many Android users have been scouring the web for links to the leaked TweetDeck for Android software. With only a few real choices available for Twittering Android users, the possibility of finally being able to use a dependable app like TweetDeck is certainly cause for celebration.
Of course, as with many a leaked product, the download mirrors come down just as fast as they go up. The folks over at GizmoFusion just posted four fresh mirrors of which they became aware this morning. If you’re dying to take a chance on what is definitely a leaked, beta product (read: at your own legal and usage risk), head on over to GizmoFusion.
Facebook 1.3 for Android in the wild but still elusive
Yesterday, version 1.3 of Facebook for Android was officially released. For some Android users, updating has been as simple as checking for updates and downloading the new one. For others, though, the new version seems to be far more elusive. A desktop-based visit to the Android Market shows Facebook 1.2 as one of the top free social media apps. The description still shows the latest version to be 1.2. Some users have been able to delete version 1.2, navigate to the Android Market and search for and install version 1.3.
What improvements can users expect? The home screen now displays messages, notifications and friend requests individually. The notifications themselves now appear in bar at the bottom of the screen that can be accessed by sliding up on the screen. Some who have updated report an overall bugginess to the app. Specifically, there are reports that notifications don’t automatically appear and that the app is a battery drainer. For now, at least, the opinions are mixed, if the posts on the Facebook’s official Android App page are any indicator. Either way, suffice it to say that Facebook for Android and BlackBerry still have a long way to go to catch up with their iPhone app brethren.
For those who have managed to update to version 1.3, what are your thoughts? Is it better, worse, or about the same? Let us know via comment!
Courtesy: Facebook for Android
Twitter: From Text-Only to Multi-(Tweet)-Media?
Social media and technology website Mashable recently discovered a potential new feature for Twitter, the popular micro-blogging service. In an article entitled Twitter to Show Photos and Videos in the Stream, Mashable writer Ben Parr described a new option that he had stumbled across in his Twitter settings, tentatively called Tweet Media. In a screenshot from the article, the new setting had the following description:
“By default, you’ll only see images and videos shared by people you’re following, and reveal those by people you’re not. Check this box to see media from everyone on Twitter.”
Parr speculated that this potential new feature could signify a fundamental change in the Twitter experience for users. He later updated his article twice: initially to report that the new setting had been removed and then to include a statement from an anonymous source at Twitter, who stated:
“We’re constantly exploring features and settings. What you saw was a small test of a potential consumption setting for inline media. We show inline media on our own iPhone and Android apps.”
Tweetie creator hints at the next, great Twitter client
Though four months is the equivalent of four years in tech circles, you may recall that, in April of this year, Loren Brichter, the man behind Tweetie and Tweetie 2 for iPhone, sold his small, social media pie to become part of the big, social media pie known as Twitter. While opinions were divided on the fairness, morality, etc. of the acquisition, the free Twitter for iPhone client (which was pretty much a rebranded Tweetie 2) which was released nearly a month later, in May of this year, seemed to silence the critics. Why? The previously pay-for-download app ($1.99) dropped down to $0.
Right around the time of the Tweetie 2 acquisition, Twitter also officially released its Twitter for BlackBerry client. Though not quite as functional as its iPhone counterpart, the BlackBerry version has provided a polished Twitter client in a sea of not so great BlackBerry options. So, nearly four months later, is Twitter resting on its laurels and enjoying summer vacation? If comments tweeted by Brichter are any indication, it would appear that something new is forthcoming.
Web Presence: What’s in a Name?
In a previous post on personal branding, I wrote about the importance of managing your web presence. One of the most obvious ways to do this is to take ownership of the information that people may find when they search for your name on the Internet. However, this is easier said than done. If you have a common name, like John Smith, then you know that searching for your name will likely turn up more information for other people than it will for you. Even if you have an uncommon name, like–say–Dieter Schweiss, you can find information that may surprise you.
