eROI NYC Interactive Agency

A week or so ago I attended this years Twestival with @redirect. What is a Twestival? This is from their site:

“Twestival™ (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good.  Twestival is the largest global grassroots social media fundraising initiative to date, raising over $1.2 million within 14 months for 137 nonprofits.  All local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects. Twestival™ Global is a series of offline events hosted on one day for one cause in cities around the world. Twestival™  Local is a series of offline events which aim to support local causes over a designated weekend.”

So there are a series of parties going on around the world on the same date for the same cause. What is it about collective experience that is so sweet? Knowing you are a part of something global seems to resonate a ton these days….especially with web heads. Its was at Good Units which is an underground venue for parties and shows…it was a pretty sweet set up save the fact that it was so far underground that my BB couldn’t quite catch so you notice my own tweet stream end about the time I get there. At any rate the venue was great and the energy of the rooms were good. The band certainly kicked ass….Shinobi Ninja. More on them in a bit. On a global scale the event seemed to do well. Mashable just wrote an in depth post about it…here are some highlights:

• $450,000 raised for Concern Worldwide, an international NGO helping fund educational projects around the world.
• Contributions to Twestival Global 2010 grew by more than 80% during its second annual fundraising event.
• $1.2 million has been raised over the past 14 months on behalf of 137 organizations.
• Twestival helped accept a truly worldwide outpouring of support from 45 countries in 12 different currencies.

So kudos to the planners and organizers of this whole thing. I can only imagine how much work went into it. I met some cool people there and saw some old friends as well. If you read through my blog you know that I document almost every event I attend however as I went through my assets for this event I realized I was pretty thin on video. I did however get a bunch of great stills. I realized my night is actually best documented by going through the unedited pics on my camera in sequence.  There is some video in in there to set it up though.  I did reach out to #nyctwestival for more video assets so I could make a proper one but I haven’t heard back. At any rate the video is a bit raw but that isn’t always a bad thing.

A bit more about Shinobi Ninja….they are a Brooklyn based self proclaimed “super group of the 21st century”. That night they probably were. They were terrific and I highly recommend you check out their shows.  High energy high movement. They made the night for sure.  They are highly active on twitter and also have an EP out that I picked up which happens to feature a video game as well.  Nice work. They are an odd mix of peeps with an eclectic and hard sound. The video above uses a remix of their Brooklyn to Babylon single. @shinobininja hit me if you need/want any of these assets.



Here are some links to more pics from the night:

www.nbcnewyork.com

Guest of a guest

Random night out

My friends and I love using astrology to explain the way people act.  You’ll always hear one of us say, “she’s the life of the party, she’s a typical Gemini” or “he’s so arrogant yet so attractive, is he by any chance an Aquarius?”.  I’ll admit though, that I’ve always been a little skeptical of how ALL people of the same sun sign can embody the same characteristics?  Moonit, the new site launched by eROI last week, gets way more specific with it.  By using the year, day and even time someone was born, Moonit breaks your relationships down for so you can do as they say and  “take control of your own destiny”.  So how does it work?  The folks at Moonit explain that they use “thousands of years of data from the stars to help determine whether two people are compatible from a romantic, platonic and professional perspective.”

Using Moonit is simple.  You login, pick the type of relationship you are testing and enter all of the birthday data you can remember.  The best part is if you are totally clueless about the other person’s info, Moonit can access all of that information directly from your contacts on Facebook.

Moonit calculates your compatibility and hooks you up with some tips on how to handle your relationship with that person.  Your results are then stored in your relationship profile along with all of the results from past readings.

This profile also allows you to track your relationships as things take shape, complete with a chart of the ups and downs of your time together.  This can serve as your own personal, online relationship journal.  Of course there’s always the very ‘09 option of sharing your thoughts about your relationship with the Facebook or Twitter world.

If you have a burning relationship question or if you’re like me and love to help others solve their problems, visit The Couch section of Moonit.  The site’s resident Psychologist Dr. Block gives his opinion on the issue at hand and the rest is up to the Mooniverse.  Questions about anything involving relationships; be it office flings, jealous friends, or cheating are answered by your peers from around the world.

And of course, what fun would it be without the ability to dissect the readings of our favorite celebs and celeb couples?  Moonit uses their data to explain the lives of those celebrities and then leaves it to you to give your input.  It’s definitely interesting to see what the stars have to say about Kanye’s recent meltdown at the VMAs.

I’ve got to admit it’s pretty addictive and I’m definitely not the only one out there who would suggest you try mooning someone.  Check out all the recent press its been getting:

forbes

techcrunch

shoemoney

blogher

wealth…uncomplicated

trend hunter

So it’s no secret that the online world loves lists. Especially Top Five lists. There is something neat and organized about knowing how much info you are going to take in and how long it will take.  We have all boiled our lives down to our Top Five Albums, Top Five Movies,  Top Five Songs.  So I thought I would join the fray, here is my Top Five New York City Top Five Lists.

1.  Top Five Restaurants – YelpTop

2.  Top Five Karaoke Bars – New York Magazine

3.  Top Five Buildings – Gadling

4.  Top Five Dive Bars – New York Magazine

5.  Top Five Tourist Attractions – About.com

Check out Mars Bar, part of the Dive Bar Top Five: 25 E. 1st St., at Second Ave.; 212-473-9842

I need to give some props this week to MoMa and the new launch of their web based Summer Planner App. MoMa traditionally does a great job with their email marketing but this latest round added another level of unique engagement. I can envision the brainstorm session that lead to this….”let’s make it fun to plan your day/week at the museum” How do we do that? I received an email from them last week (image 1) promoting the new online planner. I clicked through to find a well designed and very easy to use site that thought out of the box in terms of usability and function. The interface is fun and colorful and the overall user experience lends itsself well to discovery and exploration. Hallmarks of a good museum right?

Upon entering the dates that you are interested in, you are prompted to sign in. They utilized a clever Facebook user sign in tool that allows you to use your Facebook page in sign in (image 2). You can also create a user profile with in the app. Nice move with the Facebook connect as it lends itsself well to sharing without having to flat our forward stuff. After you enter in all of your info it builds an itinerary for you based on your interests and the availability of the exhibits (image 3). The navigation is great and its tied into some cool features that help you select exhibits that might be of interest to you (image 5).  Nice work on this MoMa.

I have been obsessed with time lapse video lately. I have made a couple weak ones from off my fire escape. I got this tweet today from @socialmedium that is just crazy.
Check out how much the bridge moves….yikes.

Original tweet:
@socialmedium: Pretty [creepy!] footage of the Manhattan Bridge swaying, aching with the weight of the subway http://bit.ly/Z4WwI (via @gillianmae)

This week marks the start of Restaurant Week here in NYC. Aimed at showcasing NYC eateries and cafes Restaurant week offers foodies and non-foodies alike the opportunity to eat some where they might not otherwise choose. Most places offer a fixed menu for a very reasonable price usually around $30-$35 a person. I thought they have done a great job with their online marketing. These are just the fundamentals but they nailed it. Below I have displayed some of the assets from the campaign, but I encourage you to check it out yourself. Here are five observations:

1. Consistent visual messaging = All the pieces tie together from a visual prospective. I liked the way they handled this from color to form.

2. Consistent Offer = All the collateral consistently directs you to make a reservation.

3. User Experience = Top notch flow from email to site to conversion.

4. Multiple Tools = They leveraged email newsletter, email promo, banner ads, Twitter, home page call outs, commenting, reviews. All of this adds depth and broadens the coverage.

5. Builds Community = Overall the campaign works so well because the “product” is so engaging and fun. They play to that through out and pull on the fact that it is fun to make reservations and take advantage of Restaraunt Week.  They make it easy to join the conversation and participate.

Click an image for slide show:

eROI NYC moves its doors. It felt like graduation day.

@vitaloca found this cool little site called Wordle. Check it out:

“Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.”

Here is the Wordle of eROINYC:

There is no doubt that Rupert Murdoch is one of if not the biggest media owner in the world. Love him or hate him when he talks people listen. And when he talks digital I listen.
In an interview this morning with Fox Business Network’s Neil Cavuto, Murdoch was discussing the state of the Boston Globe. He says….
“Like all newspapers, I think it will change. We think of newspapers in the old-fashioned way, printed on crushed wood so to speak, with ink. It’s going to be digital. Within 10 years I believe nearly all newspapers will be delivered to you digitally either on your PC or on a development of the Kindle, shall we say…something that’s quite mobile and you can take around with you.”
I have to say I agree with Mr. Rupert, but I am a bit more aggressive oddly enough. I think its more like 5 years than 10 years. Tech evolution time gets more and more condensed. Perhaps eROI should introduce News Corp to Zinio. Call me Rupert we will make it happen.

I have been struggling lately about my posts and what you guys actually care about and I have been reviewing my analytics to make sure I am giving you info you actually want. Enter me thinking about what I know and what is worth sharing. So I decided to reflect on the last 16 months and examine what I have learned from this crazy town. So here it is…straight from the dome.

1. NYC is a numbers game
2. Trust your instincts
3. Never call yourself an expert
4. Tell your story
5. Truth Truth Truth

1. NYC is a numbers game: Over the last year, I have realized that the romance of the New York dream is only realized with effort. Whether you are selling gogs or trying to be a super model, being seen in NYC is key. You don’t need to be the smartest guy in the room.  All you need to do is show up and engage.  The more events, shows, and meetings you can set up the better. There are so many opportunities in this town that only through trial and error can you realize where you fit.

2. Trust your instincts: I had a sense when I first moved out that NYC was this dream place where all the best hung out and no one ever screwed up. It was like the epicenter for the over-achiever. Because of that, I used to second guess my instincts but I have learned to overcome this. NYC is no different than any other place. you can’t be afraid of failure or afraid to be wrong.  There will always be some one better than you….but there will aslo always be some one worse.

3. Never call yourself an expert: Dylan Boyd told me this and its true. No one in cares to hear you call yourself an expert. Some one else needs to call you an expert. Its like being a ninja…does a ninja need to say he or she is a ninja?

4. Tell your story: This is an offshoot of #1. Going to the event or show is not enough. You gotta learn how to tell your story. As lame or boring as it maybe, everyone is unique. So find what makes you different and run with it.

5. Truth/Truth/Truth: This is an offshoot of #4. Tell your story but don’t lie. If you don’t lie you won’t have to remember anything. Try telling different stories or making totally outrageous promises…it eats you alive, esepcially out here. Don’t be the big man on campus, just tell the truth and it will set you free. This includes knowing when to say no.

In honor of my New York education…take a listen to a joint that helped me fall in love with this city in the first place. eROI NYC be slicker this year fo sho.