Well, the madness of all the people, sessions, parties, and free stuff is over. We’ll never know how we did it all – my only explanation is pure excitement and adrenaline – either way, hopefully this will give you a taste of what it was like. I would be lying if I didn’t admit to sensory overload withdrawal since landing back in ATL, but by reflecting on the past 5 days I came up with the following list of 30 things I accomplished at SxSWi 2012:
- Never let my phone die, the entire weekend!
- Landed a solid meeting with a fortune 1000 company
- Met Brian Solis
- Saw Dennis Crowley, Sean Parker, Guy Kawasaki, and Al Gore speak
- Surpassed Carl Black in Foursquare points
- Only paid for 4 total meals over 5 days
- Rocked out at Third Eye Blind courtesy of Aetna
- Walked approximately 12.4 miles (4.6 of them in the rain)
- Hands-on learning with the new Lytro camera
- Acquired approximately $256.00 in free swag
- Learned a ton about Law+ Social Media
- Was hit with epiphanies and countless “ah-hah” moments
- Talked to @KeyInfluencer (James Andrews) for 30 seconds
- Had a most delicious “fried avocado” taco from Torchy’s
- Met Robert Scoble on the Trade Show floor
- Heard the word “startup” approximately 384 times
- Added roughly 16 new LinkedIn connections (connect with me)
- Listened to GroupMe, MTV, GetGlue and others talk about “Viewers as Users”
- Checked in on FourSquare approximately 34 times (earning 8 badges)
- Found out about the new Nike Fuel band (and help @MattiGriffin score)
- Captured a video demo of Aurasma (YouTube link coming soon!)
- Met & conversed with approximately 82 new people
- Shamelessly pimped out @vertmob whenever prudent
- “Coaxed” our way into 3 VIP parties we were not on the list for
- Made my first “Photobooth Flipbook” courtesy of Vitrue
- “Caught A Chevy” for a ride we didn’t even need
- Lost at least 16 hours of would-be sleep over 5 days
- Enjoyed about 20 tasty adult beverages on sponsors’ dimes
- Discussed the potential of “Brands as API”
- Had entirely too much fun for it to be classified as “work”
Time to book hotels for next year… see you all on SoCo in 2013!
-@kplanovskyp.s. LIKE Vert on Facebook for the photos we will be uploading soon!
It was a banner (not the internet kind) year for Vert and we have all of our clients, partners and friends to thank. Here’s to you and yours as we ring in the new year with true digital style… Get ready, 2012 will be another year of unprecedented mobile & social growth!
Wishing you much rest, relaxation and blessings this season…
The Vert Team
Now with over 10 million users and apps on iPhones, Symbian, Android, webOS, WIndows Phone 7 and Blackberry devices, I think it’s safe to say that Foursquare, the location based social networking tool, is here to stay. At least President Barack Obama thinks so, since he recently joined on August 8, 2011.
But Foursquare is more than just “checking in” at your location, getting badges (whatever those really mean) and becoming mayor (I’m currently the mayor of Vert…just sayin’). It has grown its capabilities to include
tips, specials, business pages and most recently, the ability to check in to events.The communication and community engagement that Foursquare facilitates is really unique. You’re able to converse with neighbors about local venues and get real reviews and advice from frequent and/or previous patrons. All that plus you can link check ins to Twitter and Facebook so that all your friends across all your networks can see where you are? Totally brilliant.
This is quickly becoming one of my most used apps, especially when trying to decide where to grab a bite. I look at places that are nearby, see if there are any worthwhile check in specials, scan the tips to assess how good or bad the service, food and price are and then I make my decision. Basically I’m letting my network of friends, the local community and deals dictate who will win my business.
Foursquare is taking location-based and social networking to the next level and I dig it. It combines all of the things I love–being social, competition (for mayorship and badges), exploring the city, deals and specials, social media and using my iPhone compulsively. If you haven’t yet, check out Foursquare. Or check in, rather. See what I did there?
-Ashley
@ashleytwist
Badges, Mayors, Specials, Business Pages
So now that Vert has enough people to form a basketball team, and since I made it through my first two weeks as Vert’s newest and second Digital Strategist, I think now would be a good time to go ahead and announce my presence and do an “All About Ashley” post.
I, like the rest of the Vert crew, graduated from UGA. I earned my Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing in 2009 and held a few different positions in the marketing/advertising industry, including an account manager job at a traditional ad agency. After that, I jumped head first into the digital world where I worked on the campaign management and operations side of a rich media and digital advertising company here in Atlanta. Needless to say, I’m a marketing and advertising dork. And yep, I’m proud of it.
When I’m not geeking out about digital marketing, I’m usually running (training for a 10K & eventually a half marathon), reading, exploring the ATL restaurant scene and come this fall, cheering on the #22 preseason ranked Georgia Bulldogs!
I’m really excited to be the newest addition to this amazing team at Vert. Look out for more posts from me regarding all things digital, mobile and social. If you’re super excited and can’t wait until my next post, though, follow me on Twitter!
-Ashley
@ashleytwist
April Fools! Although it is totally possible one day…
-The Vert Team
Well hello there! I’m at the end of my first week here at Vert, so I thought I’d brush the dust off this ole blog. Its been a busy week, so I don’t have a lot of time to share my infinite knowledge…don’t worry, I’m sure it will slow down! You won’t have to wait til September for the next post.
Just to start, here’s a little bit about me. I graduated from UGA (goooo dawgs!) in May of ’09. I majored in advertising and fashion merchandising and was a proud member of the Greek community. No, it’s not like Animal House…moving on. After college, I sold digital ads (briefly) for a newspaper, then moved on to run marketing for the Athens location of a regional organic and natural foods grocery. I managed all store sponsorships and promotions, including social media.
I am beyond excited to have joined the Vert team. As a Digital Strategist, I’ll have lots of “irons in the fire” so to speak. I’ll be involved with social media, digital ad planning, and keeping things organized over here. I’ll also be updating this blog, so stay tuned for more posts on what I find noteworthy and newsworthy in the digital world!
P.S., I tweet even more exciting things than I blog, so follow me here!
Today marks Day 6 of my campaign as the New Media Intern here at Vert. In the past few days I’ve done no brainless filings, no coffee runs and certainly no stamp licking. Who uses snail mail anyway? Instead, my time here at Vert can be summarized as, “engaging,” “purposeful,” and “stimulating.” Pretty powerful words for week two of an internship. It makes sense because Vert is a powerful agency connecting brand with consumers and consumers with brand across the wild frontier we call mobile and social media (or mo-so as we call it at Vert).
My goal in arriving at Vert was to hit the ground running. With a degree in Interactive Media from the School of Media Arts and Design through James Madison University (we just beat VA Tech in football, you may have heard), my background is in designing user experiences for the web. I’m here to expand my knowledge and Vert’s capabilities in creating and maintaining interactions on both social and mobile platforms. After all, just because you can bake a cake doesn’t mean you’re a chef, or baker. Same is true in the digital realm, we can all tweet, text and create Facebook pages, but that doesn’t make us experts. Enter Vert.
Emerging technologies have forced brands into a state of transparency rivaling glass windows. Consumers want and expect immediate, worthwhile feedback from all brands, whether the local bakery or Wal-Mart. At the forefront of this digital revolution, Vert is on board to find your brand’s voice and extend it across the ocean of new media. And that’s why I’m here, to catch the wave of opportunity and ride it with you.
- Hank Thornhill
@hankthornhillp.s. The photos are from my “Hat Factory” web app on www.hankthornhill.com
Over the past couple of months, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Vert as their New Media Intern. To say the least, this opportunity has given me great knowledge of the business and was definitely a fun experience. And to think, this adventure began with a single tweet. What better way to get acquainted with an emerging media agency than on Twitter, right?
My experience with Vert has provided me with real, interactive experience that not all interns have the luxury of receiving. This was not your normal “coffee making, filing” internship…this company provides hands-on experience with the clients and really throws you into the mix of daily company activities. The Vert team (Kevin, Matt and Michael) were always open to help in any way possible and wanted to make sure that I was getting the most I could out of the internship. Their dynamic as a team is amazing and makes for a great work environment that is constantly fueled by their creative juices.
The majority of the work I did revolved around research. Who knew this would be something that I actually enjoyed doing. Vert taught me about new tools to use in order to delve into social media and see what our target markets are interested in and looking for. This, in turn, showed me how to relate to the users and how to communicate the relevance of the results to the client. Not only did this teach me the importance of research in everything you do, but it also renewed my love of social media. Seeing the back end of all of the different online campaigns communicated, really shows you how different all online media is and how many opportunities are opened because of it.
All in all, working with the Vert team has taught me many things and my experiences here will greatly help as I advance in my career endeavors. This team is creative, innovative and hard-working to the max and has such a bright future ahead of them. Their passion and excitement for the field is truly contagious and I couldn’t imagine taking this journey with anyone else. Thanks again, Vert. You guys rock!
-Ashley
@ash1212 (follow her!)
Last week, Vert had the privilege to attend the first annual Mobile Marketing Boot Camp at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, GA.In between our rice pilaf and “Yahootinis”, we’ve hadThe evening was capped with roundtable discussions and the infamous “Yahootinis”.Top 10 Mobile Nuggets:1. The mobile web is growing at an alarming rate.2. ROI = Return on Ignoring3. The mobile device is the new “Remote Control” of our world – Sight, Sound, & Motion.4. Test & Fail…Learn & Scale.5. The mobile market will experience further segmentation, not consolidation.6. People share iPads and tablets. They don’t share phones.7. Doug Busk knows every mobile statistic – ever.8. Smartphone penetration will overtake feature phones sometime next year (2011)9. Measuring the success of a mobile campaign is complicated but rewarding.10. Atlanta is a hot market for mobile marketingOn June 24, 2010 we had the privilege of sponsoring and attending Atlanta’s first ever Mobile Marketing Boot Camp at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The half-day conference was hosted by the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA). To make it a truly mobile event, we unveiled AiMA’s first ever mobile website to the crowd during the Luncheon and Keynote Presentation from Coke’s Tom Daly.In between the rice pilaf (conference mandatory) and “Yahootinis” (conference first), we had the opportunity to hear from a few of the industry’s key influencers as well as discuss trends in the space.
And now for Vert’s Top 10 Mobile Nuggets from the conference.
1. The mobile web is growing at an alarming rate.
2. ROI = Return on Ignoring (The cost of not doing anything)
3. The mobile device is the new “Remote Control” of our world – Sight, Sound, & Motion.
4. Test & Fail…Then Learn & Scale. (Thanks, Tom Daly)
5. The mobile market will experience further segmentation, not consolidation. (Kudos, Gerry Purdy)
6. People share iPads and tablets. They don’t share phones.
7. Doug Busk knows every mobile statistic – ever.
8. Smartphone penetration will overtake feature phones sometime next year (2011)
9. Measuring the success of a mobile campaign is complicated but rewarding.
10. Atlanta is a city ripe with mobile talent and innovation.
As “The Year of Mobile” (again) continues to press on, it will be exciting to see how these nuggets impact the approach and strategy of agencies and the marketing budgets of their clients…
Michael
@mjlentz
Last week Apple announced both the iPhone 4 along with iOS 4. The two will launch simultaneously near the end of June. The iPhone 4 will release running iOS 4 while iPhone 3G and 3G-S users can update their firmware via iTunes.
The release of the iPhone 4 brings significant hardware advancement to the iOS world. Adding an A4 processor and 512mb of on board ram, those selecting to grab up the new iPhone will quite literally have a palm sized iPad. This marks a fairly hefty jump from the iPhone 3gs. The first question begs, is that type of processing power really necessary in a mobile device right now? And the answer is…. We sure hope so (and plan on putting it to use). Certainly the faster the better. The faster the processor and more ram, the more quickly applications load and display content. But at this stage in the game the older iPhone still keeps up well enough to do just about everything they need to do, in a sufficient time frame. There are few 3G-S only apps on the App store currently, and that may or may not hold true for the iPhone4. It is likely as more and more people upgrade their device developers will worry less about cutting out half (or more) of their market and build applications that take full advantage of the higher speeds and require them. But for now if you’re okay with wasting an extra minute or two of your day waiting for things to load, then I’d say speeds alone are not a reason to toss that new iPhone 3G-S to grab a 4th generation model, well at least yet.
However, the iPhone 4 did bring more to the table than just processing speed. Other than the upgraded processor and ram, the other major notable upgrades include a Retina display, HD video recording and editing, upgraded 5 mega pixel camera, a brand new structure design and a new video call concept Apple calls FaceTime. Each of these features brings more reason to look at upgrading sometime in the near feature for current or even new iPhoners. However, some of the features may or may not be useful to every iPhone 4 user. Having an upgraded camera is great, as is the ability to edit right on the iPhone. How useful is this? That depends on who you are. Many Apple fanboys these days already own the best MacBook available and are familiar with iMovie and would most likely prefer to edit there when possible. Others like taking video or photos with their phones, but if theres anything really worth taking a picture of they’ve got their dedicated camera, video camera, or FlipcamHD ready. So again, along with the processing power, these camera upgrades are always great, but may or may not be a huge usable upgrade for every individual.
The new Retina display promises to be quite eye catching.
Having not held one in my hand I can’t say how amazing it is, but we’ve heard first hand it looks quite nice up close. Before we make any judgment call here I’d like to hold one in my hand, but for now we’ll take everyone else’s word for it, but also make the note that my iPhone 3g looks just fine to me as is.
Another exciting upgrade is the completely redesigned structure and casing for the iPhone 4. It includes a stainless steel band that forms the exterior around the case. Apple notes:
Created from our own alloy, then forged to be five times stronger than standard steel, the CNC-machined band is the mounting point for all the components of iPhone 4. The band provides impressive structural rigidity and allows for its incredibly thin, refined design. It also functions as both iPhone 4 antennas.
To be honest, it does look very nice. Again, not having held it first hand, we can’t say exactly what it is or what it’s not. However, coming first hand from a friend inside the WWDC the phone feels really good in the hand, “it’s solid”, they said. So taking into account a faster processing power, new camera features, new display, plus more and toss it all into a well built, but smaller and thinner frame, maybe that’s starting to be enough to warrant a purchase.
The last item we mention was the new Apple video calling or FaceTime feature. This is a really cool feature and the ads Apple is using to push the feature are very well crafted. It seems well designed and thought out. However, it does require a WiFi connection at this time and also is only usable with other iPhone 4 users. A common question would be that if it requires WiFi, many times a laptop will be available and I can just use Skype. True. This iPhone 4 feature will simply make that process easier and more mobile (assuming the other party has a new iPhone as well). Moreover, when this feature releases on the 3g network as well, it could provide a very game changing experience for mobile users. As a side note to the teenagers out there, when FaceTime releases on 3g and your parents offer to get you an iPhone 4 for free, know that it’s a trick. They just want the ability to call you at anytime and make sure you show them with FaceTalk exactly where you are and who you’re with
The idea of video calling with mobile isn’t new by any means. I saw it functioning first hand on a couple of prototype devices many years ago at a non Apple handset manufacturers lab. That isn’t what is important here. What is important, and in my opinion might be the biggest iPhone 4 takeaway is simply that APPLE released video chat on mobile. Apple led the way for mobile many years ago with the release of the iPhone and iOS. They completely revolutionized the mobile handset market and had every major device manufacturer chasing their touchscreen design and their well crafted iOS UI. That same company just released, to the public, a new way to communicate via mobile phones. I’m willing to bet in the near future many of those same competitors will be chasing Apple again, finding the best way to allow video calling on their devices. When Google, HTC, Samsung, Sony and LG begin to release video chat capable phones the way people communicate with mobile phones will change, for good.
- Matt Griffin
Principal, Creative Technology
