iStrategyLabs - A Social Experiential Agency

Ford’s Tweeting Cake and the Rise of Social Machines

corbett3000 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:12:21 +0000

We recently had the good fortune of working with Ford as our presenting sponsor of DCWEEK – our 10,000+ person festival focused on bringing together designers, developers and entrepreneurs to do great things together.

Check out the sweet recap video:

Ford was the perfect fit of DCWEEK because they continue to push the envelope using social media to engage audiences across the web. At DCWEEK Ford also used iStrategyLabs’s brand new social data visualization technology called Grandstand enabling them to show fans photos, tweets and klout scores in real-time.

As if that weren’t enough, we collaborated with world famous Charm City Cakes to build the “Ford Tweeting Cake“. Simply, when you tweeted with the right #hashtag, the cake would say your tweet. Super fun, super social, super experiential. What else could you ask for? The mini-documentary we produced about it says it all:

The Ford Tweeting Cake is part of the inspiration behind a new product/service offering we’re working on called Social Machines. After building the cake, a FourSquare Unlock Box, Grandstand and playing with other digital + physical mashups, we’re almost ready to roll out the Social Machines offering for brands and organizations that want to infuse the physical word with social data…in order to remote-control it. Most soon!

[Animation] The 2011 Mobile Year in Review

corbett3000 — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:00:02 +0000

Are you attached to your mobile device?

RU a 14 yr old girl or txt like 1?

Do you love beautiful info-graphic animations?

If you answered yes to any of these then check out our most recent animation for Mobile Future – The “2011 Mobile Year in Review“. 2010′s Mobile Year in Review can be found here and has been seen over 150,000 times.

Talent Crunch: How America is Falling Behind

corbett3000 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:28:57 +0000

I’m amazed to learn that America is only graduating about 15,000 computer science majors per year (see the full report below). The demand for talent of this kind nationally has got to be 3-4x that.

There is our gap – call it 50,000 high paying gigs that our tech companies can’t fill. Perhaps StartupVisa (more from Tech Crunch) will pass someday and “sort of” fix this. Perhaps CodeNow can teach a generation of kids to code.

Maybe college kids will stop studying things that have no hope of employing them and adding meaningfully to our economy (like finance – and all these other majors). I wouldn’t put my money on it though. The incentive to learn meaningful engineering skills are clearly lacking. Who’s got the answer? Anyone have a solid plan for encouraging more Computer Science majors in this country?

Dice Tech Talent Crunch

View more documents from neil198

CodeNow: A Startup Non-Profit That Teaches Kids to Code

corbett3000 — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:07:57 +0000

Most of us in the tech industry know there’s a huge issue in America with regard to engineer scarcity, as well as the broad digital divide between the digerati and the under-served.

CodeNow is a DC startup non-profit that aims to solve both problems by teaching disadvantaged kids to code.

This holiday season CodeNow is pushing to raise money to buy kids netbooks so they can teach more students crucial programing skills in DC. iStrategyLabs is a huge fan – we were CodeNow’s first sponsor – and so is the Whitehouse (read here).

Buy a kid a netbook. Contribute anything – even $10. Donate your latte fund. Whatever. IT WILL ACTUALLY MATTER. Watch the videos below and contribute to this great program.

If you do…please comment on this post or email me (peter at istrategylabs dot com) to tell me – I’m going to invite every single donor this season to a super secret VIP happy hour on me just to say thank you. The donation link is http://codenow.eventbrite.com.

35 Reasons You Shouldn’t Date a Tech Entrepreneur

corbett3000 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:02:25 +0000

We’re cranking away on our products over here – and it got me thinking about the dating life of tech entrepreneurs. Which one do you like best?

1. Freemium models are your competition at the bar.
2. When you’re talking, they’re thinking about users.
3. When you’re laying in bed, they’re thinking about #winning.
4. They think lusting after 22 year old programmers is okay for grown men/women to do.
5. They make awkward sexual remarks like “I’d call that API”.
6. They think a startup consists of not having a job, while programming.
7. They think they have multiple startups in the form of multiple unfinished apps.
8. If they’re from NYC, they grow really silly mustaches and wear really tight jeans.
9. If they’re from SF, they wear really tight jeans and grow really silly mustaches.
10. If they’re from DC, they’ll wish they could grow a really silly mustache and have tighter jeans.
11. If they’re in Austin, they’re probably puking on something during SXSW.
12. They think you care about their monetization strategy.
13. They don’t care how hot you are – if you don’t “get it” then you’re toast.
14. They think referencing Paul Graham essays in causal conversation is normal.
15. They have to schedule dates spontaneously 3 weeks in advance.
16. They’re too tired for a booty call.
17. Their exit strategy includes paying him/her.
18. You’ll be signing a prenup.
19. You’ll learn the meaning of the word manic.
20. You’ll need to follow them on Twitter to know what they’re up to.
21. You’ll need to follow them on Foursquare to bump into them randomly.
22. You’ll need to pretend you’re not jealous of the quality time they spend with their Siri.
23. Their idea of a date is meeting you at starbucks for 30 minutes.
24. They keep pushing you to hire a team to manage and grow your personal blog
25. They won’t talk to you if you don’t believe in agile/lean everything.
26. Pillow talk sometimes includes references to Jack Dorsey.
27. Pillow talk also includes “when I raise that round baby…”
28. Ship early, ship often does not include gifts on your birthday
29. Fail fast applies to your relationship.
31. Vacation includes co-working sessions, networking, skype, and writing proposals.
32. When they wake up, the first thing they reach for is their iPhone.
33. You’ll get friend requests from people even they’ve never met in person.
33. They’re just weird people.
34. Their alcohol tolerance is that of a pre-pubescent teenager.
35. Their their tantrums are also like that of a pre-pubescent teenager.

Social Media Week – Coming to DC Next February

Katie Lancos — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:04:00 +0000

We are delighted to announce that iStrategyLabs has been selected to produce Washington DC’s inaugural Social Media Week, joining the ranks of other major cities New York, San Francisco, Miami, Toronto, London, Paris, Rome, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, and Sao Paulo. From the dynamic and growing influence of our new Asian partners to seasoned Social Media Week hosts, this preliminary selection represents global leaders in the tech and digital fields- kicking Social Media Week February off to an exciting start. The event will take place next February 13-17th, 2012.

Social Media Week is a global platform that connects people, content, and conversation around emerging trends in social and mobile media. Delivered primarily through a network of internationally hosted biannual conferences and online through social and mobile media, Social Media Week brings hundreds of thousands of people together every year through learning experiences that aim to advance our understanding of social media’s role in society.

Event planning and promotion will begin mid-November, upon the wrap-up of our second annual Digital Capital Week (@DCWeek).

Stay up to speed on new Social Media Week DC developments by Liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter (@smwwdc).

Want to get involved? Let us know.

Announcing Grandstand: A Social Data Product for Rewarding Crowds

DJ Saul — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:00:51 +0000

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Grandstand — a web platform that transforms mobile inputs into an instant prizing platform, allowing venues (restaurants, stadiums, movie theaters… we don’t care as long as they have a display connected to the web) to run their own promotions, drive ad revenue, and spike their level of brand engagement on the social web.

Check out the full demo here:

Flip through the deck here:

Come talk to us @getGrandstand, and big ups to @laurenkerwell for the killer design and @cvee for killer dev of our shiny new microsite!

The sweetlife.is Live for Your Reading Pleasure

corbett3000 — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:56:05 +0000

Our super innovative client sweetgreen has just launched their new online magazine sweetlife.is. If you’re a foodie, fashionista, audiophile or design maven you’ll want to add this site to your daily feed-of-awesome.

The iStrategyLabs team had the pleasure of working side by side with the sweetgreen team on the Sweetlife Festival this past May – and were happily back to work on this new site pushing pixels and code around to deliver what we hope is an enjoyable experience.

Using Foursquare to Open a LockBox with a Check-in

corbett3000 — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:28:00 +0000

This is an early demo of a physical marketing technology project we’re working on that will let us control physical space with a simple Foursquare Check-in. The technology components include a python script, an arduino board, and a simple servo.

[Infographic] America’s Social Pastime: How MLB Teams Stack Up on Facebook

DJ Saul — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 21:50:23 +0000

After our last post on what College students Like — we thought we would heat things up in the dog days of August by taking a look at how Major League Baseball teams stack up against one another other on Facebook.

While some results may not shock you (everyone knows the Yankees & Red Sox have a lot of fans — we get it), what’s really interesting is who shows up in the long tail (What’s up Marlins, Angels, and D-Backs — you were all Champs in the last decade were you not?). So grab some peanuts & crackerjacks, and enjoy.

We’ve also included all custom illustrated mascots here for download on our Facebook Page (Mike O’Brien spent years making these!)

Sample of custom team illustrations:

Pinkberry is coming to Georgetown!

Audrey Matthias — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:17:07 +0000

We’re incredibly excited to announce the arrival of Pinkberry in Georgetown on 3088 M St. This location is right on the popular shopping strip and caddy corner from Georgetown Cupcake. Pinkberry, the number one tart frozen yogurt brand, will be filling Georgetown’s sweet tooth with premium frozen yogurt made with real non-fat yogurt and non-fat milk that is rBST hormone free. What does that mean? It’s delicious and we’re stoked to be planning their newest Grand Opening event. This will be the 5th location we’ve had the pleasure of helping open in DC. Check out a few recent mentions from DCist, The Washington Post, Prince of Petworth and B rightest Young Things.

We’ll be announcing much more about this store in the coming months (including more free sampling) about this opening but until then, be sure to stop by the Clarendon and Leesburg Grand Opening events this August.

A special tour of Dupont Underground

corbett3000 — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:50:14 +0000

Shhhhhh….there’s something under Dupont Circle:

Honest Cities: A Tasty Social Experiment Unlike Any You’ve Seen

corbett3000 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:00:23 +0000

When the much loved organic beverage company Honest Tea asked us what we could do to bring their Honest Cities experiment to the social web we saw a world of opportunity. Actually…we saw a map…of the good ol’ US-of-A. The details of what is one of the most intricate social experiential campaigns we have been a part of is as follows after the recap videos:

UPDATED – Behind the scenes look at the Honest War Room and Honest Cities recap videos:

1. Pop-up stores have been setup in 12 cities around the country where passersby could steal an Honest Tea, or put a dollar in a box to pay for one. Locations included: NYC (Foley Square), Boston (Prudential Center), Philadelphia (Love Park), DC (Dupont Circle), Atlanta (Centennial Olympic Park), Miami (CocoWalk), Cincinnati (Fountain Square), Chicago (Grant Park), Dallas (Pegasus Plaza), Seattle (Alki Beach Coastal Surf Boutique), SF (Justin Herman Plaza), and LA (West Hollywood)

2. Each Honest Store has a hidden camera streaming live video to honestcities.com all with dedicated Ustream.TV channels recording all the action.

3. The Honest Tea field team is equipped with a cross-platform mobile app that we built to enable them to record a tally of buys vs. steals at each pop-up, and also mark time-code in the streaming video with ‘interesting’ to make video recapping easier later on.

4. We built out a web and mobile-optimized microsite at honestcities.com to enable visitors to toggle between city video streams, see the real-time HONESTy Tracker measuring all city honesty levels and let them play along by making their own HONESTy choices

5. Web users have their own chance to be HONEST by liking the Honest Tea Facebook Page and grab a coupon, or they can be disHONEST and just take the coupon and run. These actions drive our real-time measurement of the Web HONESTY — whose geo-specific data has been crafted into an Honest API (application programming interface) that will allow Honest Tea and interested developers to mash up the honesty data collected during the campaign.

6. Outside of design and web/application development we’re in the midst of executing a comprehensive social promotion strategy that could very well melt our servers. Stay tuned and visit honestcities.com to grab a coupon while supplies last!

Announcing Crowdly: Cost Per Social Advertising – Likes, Views, App Installs, Petitions and More

corbett3000 — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 14:53:11 +0000

Over the past six months we’ve seen a surge in demand for campaigns that deliver guaranteed social media engagement, trackable to a ROI measurement methodology that marketers and advocacy organizations can get behind.

This is where our new product Crowdly comes in. Here’s what it does:

1. Allows a marketer to define what kind of social action they want to buy

2. Let’s you get set your targeting parameters

3. Let’s you define your rough quantity of social actions you need

4. Provides a rough quote for budgeting purposes — final prices are refined after taking with the marketer about all targeting/quantity specifics. Our cost data is aggregated from current ad network offerings, as well as aggregate campaign performance data we see at iStrategyLabs. Go ahead a grab a quote. Hit “Absolutely” if you want us to chat with you after your quote is processed.

Infographic: What Do College Students Like on Facebook?

DJ Saul — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:00:23 +0000

While the average college student may be fueled by energy drinks, pizza, gadgets, and partying — which brands do they actually prefer? As a follow up to our last Facebook analytics post, we did some digging into what the 4 million+ college students on Facebook “Like” across various categories. Better yet, as brands pour more and more money into social ads — this gives us a snapshot of who’s getting their money’s worth, and who isn’t. All numbers shown express the total users you can target using Facebook Social Ads – not the number of likes of a brand page. Enjoy :)

Social Experiment: @honesttea to launch Honest Cities on July 19th

corbett3000 — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 02:54:16 +0000

We’re HONESTly delighted to be working with Honest Tea this summer in preparation for an exciting national campaign. On July 19th Honest Tea will launch their Honest Cities campaign — where we’ll track the real-time honesty of 12 cities and the web through a to-be-announced secret mechanism.

We’re still working hard on all the campaign components, but the preview page is live now. Go ahead and submit your email and vote on what city you think will be the most honest!

The SocialSphere: Data Visualization In The Motor City…of Germany

DJ Saul — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:33:44 +0000

In the heart of Wolfsburg, Germany, adjacent to the Volkswagen HQ lives a mecca for auto enthusiasts, known as the Autostadt — featuring a customer pickup center and pavilions showcasing VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Bentley, Buggati, and Lamborghini. The museum houses treasures such as the original Model T, the millionth Mini, and even huge obstacle courses for off-roading adventure!

Already well-known for their innovative and intricate exhibits, they wanted to create an experience that allowed visitors to interact with the social web in real time — to provide a glimpse of how the proliferation of social media now affects everything from Autostadt, Volkswagen, and even how we perceive the concept of transportation on a global scale. That’s where iStrategyLabs comes in.

In a groundbreaking collaboration with the Sandbox Network, we built the “Socialsphere”, which opened to the public on June 1st, 2011. The Socialsphere features 22” touchscreens that allow visitors to interact with giant 15’ x 15’ displays — all powered by a custom data management system for easy moderation and updating. The 7 custom applications pull real-time social data from Twitter, Foursquare, and Flickr, which are visualized in compelling ways, and are controllable by mounted touchscreens that visitors can manipulate.

iStrategyLabs created all design, technology and hardware integrations for the project. See for yourself what we’ve been building and let us know what you think!

Walk-through Video:

You can see the following 7 social applications live on this microsite.

1) Word Cloud - see how far the rabbit hole you can go through clouds of words associated with Autostadt, Wolfsburg, and Volkswagen on Twitter

2) Travel Plans - a heatmap of Foursquare check-ins at airports and translations around the world

3) Movements – Choose between Biking, Driving, Flying, and Running and see a Twitter layer on top of Flickr images

4) Guess The Model – An interactive game pulling from Flickr, think you know the differences between an Audi A3 and S5?

5) Buyers - Spin and manipulate the globe as geocoded tweets appear around the world

6) Photo Album - Browse through Flickr photos tagged with Autostadt, and you just might see some party pics from the club underground the distribution tunnel running straight from the factory

7) Panoramas – See Tweets appear (yes, even your own) on a custom map of Wolfsburg, Germany, as you zoom your way around town

iPad uses 120x more Spectrum than Feature Phones – Fueling the Mobile Future Animation

corbett3000 — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:11:24 +0000

You probably don’t think about spectrum. You might not even know what it is. It’s the invisible magic that makes our mobile phones work, along with all other communications devices we’ve come to know and love.

You probably also don’t know that we’re headed straight for a “spectrum crunch” where we won’t have enough bandwidth for all the mobile devices getting hooked up to the various networks across the country. Simply, if we don’t allocate more from other sources – our mobile future will be a bleak, disconnected one. Take a look at the video we created for Mobile Future to explain this issue in depth (more of our animation work is here):

Additional screenshots:

Pinkberry Swirls into DC

Audrey Matthias — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:02:26 +0000

In the heart of DC’s Golden Triangle, at 1213 Connecticut Ave., Pinkberry opened its door for a Grand Opening Party on Cinco de Mayo. Thousands of fans patiently awaited Pinkberry’s arrival and gathered to stand in line for more than 2 hours to grab their free fro-yo.

We hosted a VIP party @ Current Sushi with Pinkberry, CEO, Ron Graves, complete with Pinkberry infused cocktails @ Dirty Martini.

As we’ve worked to open the second Pinkberry in the DC region we’ve heard two things over and over:

1) “I LOVE Pinkberry”

2) “Finally!”

And trust me, we feel ya. In the midst of cupcake wars and fro-yo knock-offs, Pinkberry is like a shining light in the dark battle of DC food wars (I know I know, I am totally biased but when you’ve tasted as much fro-yo as I have you definitely notice the difference in quality. Call me a fro-yo lover with an extra soft spot for Pinkberry and I’ll tag this post as #ShamelessClientLove).

If you’re interested to see what happened at the big opening, check out the following videos for a recaps:

As a digital experiential agency, we love to promote social activations at events and this was no different. Here are a few things we included at this opening:

Facebook: We customized 5,000 ping pong balls, donated to the charities of two George Washington University sororities and sent them out on campus, in Dupont circle, in Farragut Square and all over DC. Each ping pong ball directed finders back to our Facebook Event Page, which explained that if you brought the ball back the night of the opening, you could win a Pinkberry customized iPad2!
FourSquare: We built our very own social gaming display: Pinkberry Social Revealer. The objective: drive engagement via a fun interactive game. Step 1) Check in on Foursquare during the event 2) Grab your physical Social VIP badge 3) Come back in May with a friend and your badge and your mini is on us!

Next up, we’re taking Pinkberry to the suburbs. More news of that to come soon!

Also, check out our photos from the Onomonmedia photo booth. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

Sign up for an Invite to Join Personal and Choose to Own Your Data

corbett3000 — Sun, 15 May 2011 14:05:33 +0000

How many times have you forgotten your bank, insurance, or loan details? Had to explain to a house guest how to get to your apartment? Sent friends recommendations for your favorite restaurants? Imagine all that information could be easily accessibly in a secure location.

DC based start-up Personal (request a beta invite) will help you do just that.

We’ve been having a lot of fun creating animations, video testimonials, and web design work for them over the past few months. Take a look and let us know what you think!

Personal How To Animation:

Jon Dudas, former head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office testimonial:

Personal Bumper Animation:

Home Page Design: