Dir of Community Engagement for National Geographic’s Animal Jam
It’s true! I got a fantastic opportunity to work with an insanely talented team of designers on one of the country’s most beloved brands, National Geographic. The game is out this summer and it’s BEAUTIFUL. So excited, stay tuned for updates. :D
Joi Podgorny Joins National Geographic’s Animal Jam Team
Online Child Safety Veteran to Lead Community Engagement in New Virtual World
Washington, DC and Salt Lake City, UT (PRWEB) January 25, 2010 — Smart Bomb Interactive announced today that Joi Podgorny has joined the company as the Director of Community Engagement for National Geographic’s Animal Jam, an online virtual world for kids 5-9 launching in the summer of 2010. In her new role, Podgorny will architect and oversee all aspects of community management for Animal Jam, with the goal of creating an online destination that is an industry leader in child safety, parental engagement, and pure fun.
“This team and this project are a perfect fit for me,” said Podgorny. “Kids who love animals are going to be immersed in a fascinating virtual world of unprecedented depth, and they’ll be part of an online community that parents can feel good about letting their children explore. “
Podgorny is considered one of the industry’s foremost experts in online community and children’s marketing, specifically in the under-13-year-old demographics. Her management and production accomplishments range across six international children’s entertainment properties. She most recently served as Head of Community for Mind Candy, where she oversaw phenomenal growth in the user community of moshimonsters.com. She is a frequent contributor to conferences and forums on online child safety and digital engagement with children.
1 comment January 25, 2010
zip it, block it and flag it
Children will be taught to “zip it, block it and flag it,” under a new code for internet safety to be taught in every primary school in England from the age of five.
For the first time, web safety skills will be a compulsory part of the curriculum to help tackle the problem of cyber-bullying and online grooming by paedophiles.
The plans, launched by the prime minister in London today, come after a major review of online safety by the child psychologist Tanya Byron, and were drawn up by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety.
The “zip it, block it, flag it” code is based on the green cross code. Children will be advised not to disclose personal information, to block contact from people who are bullying or harassing them, and to flag up any problems up to parents, teachers or website providers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/dec/08/code-online-safety
Love it. Like “Stop, Drop & Roll” but on the internet. 
Add comment December 14, 2009
Marketing Impact
So I have been thinking alot lately on marketing impact and promotional goals, especially in online media buys. It’s the constant double edged sword:
- Do you spend your money on the high traffic site that cost more but you know you will get more click-thrus, and therefore, more traffic to your site?
- Or do you spend that money on a lower traffic site that will allow you to have a deeper engagement with the members of that community?
The ideal answer is YES or BOTH! If you have the money, you should totally go for it, as you will get the benefit of traffic AND engagement of your brand.
But the Iron Triangle of project management looms large:
You rarely are able to have all three points of the triangle in any project.
So what do you do? If you are lacking in resources (money, usually) make up for it in features. But before you get all tactical, make sure you are clear on your project objectives. Figure out what is your ultimate goal?
- Is it to get tons of traffic? If your goals are about building awareness and this is but one of your plans in a long term campaign, put an ad on one of the “big guns” for tween traffic – TV networks, gaming sites, etc. Traffic is great and the more people see your ad on other sites then the more people you can get to your destination, the more brand awareness you spread.
- Is it to get some great quotes for sales packages, etc? Then go to a smaller community that will be able to build a deeper, more immersive experience for the users. Many times you can organize a community or world event and get the players talking either directly to you or about your brand.
- Is it to maximize your spend? A targeted ad network might be a better idea for you. You might not get an ad on the heavy hitters and you won’t get the engagement you would from a smaller site, but you can spread your brand around to more sites. There are some great options out there to help you target collections of site within the demographic you are looking at.
- Have you thought about offline engagement? It’s funny, but ever since the web came around, it becomes the only thing people can think about. But TV still dominates most peoples lives. And don’t discount the level of engagement that a well planned event sponsorship/promotion can have.
Other factors to consider in your choice include whether this is a one time campaign or part of a larger strategy, what sorts of users you are looking for, whether you are looking for awareness, conversions or something else.
At the end of the day, it’s a question of priorities and choice. It’s best to weigh all of your options and objectives before jumping into implementing tactics.
Turns out, this is good advice for your non-work situations as well. 
Add comment December 11, 2009
My fav holiday tasks
I have had a crazy year, especially within the past couple months and I wasn’t really feeling up to decorating and embracing the holidays like I usually do. My other Holiday fanatic friends were appalled and ganged up on me a bit. Their peer pressure convinced me that I should rally and get in the spirit.
So I did. Tree is up (almost done resting and ready to be trimmed) and the house is decorated. I have already finished a quart of nog this month and I am thinking of what Christmas baking I will do for what party. Mission accomplished, friends.
So in that vein, I thought I would share my favorite Holiday tasks that I do to get in the spirit.
1. Xmas Movies – Haven’t watched any yet this season, but just thinking of them makes me smile
- Elf - I LOVE THIS MOVIE. I get giddy thinking about it.
- Scrooged – I know this is a bit sacrilege to say, but Bill Murray’s Scrooge is the only way I can consume this classic, the story has gotten old for me otherwise.
- Christmas Story – One of my all time favorites. Sweet yet mildly dark in it’s story. This story, in contrast to Dickens’, never gets old for me.
- Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer – “I want to be a Dentist” and the island of misfit toys makes this my favorite Berl Ives classic
- Frosty the Snowman – Not my #1 Ives animation, but up there.
- As a side note: I did a search on Twitter the other day and accidentally found TONS of people lamenting and rejoicing in the sappy Christmas movies on Lifetime and Hallmark Channels
2. Xmas Music – I love it. I prefer cheesy, funny, silly or fun takes on traditional. And the more obscure the better. My friends Tom Deja and Theo each always make great mixes. And I have been exploring Pandora’s Christmas mixing abilities (try asking for an Ella Fitzgerald Christmas tune – hours of goodness will follow)
2. The lights “Downtown” – I think this is universal to all “Downtowns,” nowadays, but the lights on the major street(s) (I am partial to my Chi-town) during the season are so pretty, especially with a new snow on a milder evening.
3. Holiday Parties – I know they stress people out, but I love them. Probably because I rarely throw them. Love getting together with different friends groups and all my crazy family members. Especially love the traditional foods and treats I get to have only this time each year.
4. My Holiday decorations – I inherited half of mine from my mother, when she decided to class up her decorations, so, like most of my aesthetic, I have a hodge-podge of old and new, gaudy and pretty, decorations throughout my house. The best:
- Hand crocheted stockings made by my late grandmother
- 30+ years worth of hand made cartoon character wood ornaments from my grandfather and cross stitched ones from my mother.
- Not one, but two, 4-foot long latch hook rugs. One by my mom from the 70’s and one by me that took 7 years to finish.
- An altar’s worth of snowman figurines
- An obnoxious monster toy that sings Mahna Mahna when you press his foot.
Happy, Merry, and all that jazz to everyone.
Add comment December 7, 2009
Embracing new interactions
I am just now getting the time to catch up on some of my more meaty blog feeds (read:academics) and devote the kind of time I need to their posts.
I was so disheartened by the treatment that danah boyd received at Web 2.0 a couple weeks ago. It’s hard enough getting over your nerves to speak at large conferences, but a publicly viewable (save by you) backchat seem like a nightmare. Backchats should be backchats – opt-in discussions, out of public view, not unavoidable speaking accompaniments on public screens. My heart goes out to her.
I got a chance to read the talk she gave, though. As is usually the case, danah does a great job articulating many of the abstract and emerging topics in the social media industry. I especially like her point that we should work on embracing these new immersive forms of communication and social norms that are developing because of (or in spite of) social media. She posed the challenge to the entrepreneurs and business folk in her audience to focus:
not simply [on]… aggregating or curating content to create personalized destination sites… Instead, [create] the tools that consumers need… that allow them to get into flow, that allow them to live inside information structures wherever they are, whatever they’re doing. The tools that allow them to easily grab what they need and stay peripherally aware without feeling overwhelmed.
As someone who’s path normally leads more toward the content producer side than otherwise, I appreciate the challenge she poses. I love me some Google Reader, but how often have I looked at my reader and seen the (1000+) on a category and felt disheartened enough to turn away and not catch up. Is this the semantic web? Is this a tools set? Maybe a combination? Not sure, but I will definitely have this in mind as I work on further projects. It’s especially interesting in the kids space, as they are so quick to adapt and let us know what works and what doesn’t for them.
Thanks danah (and Sara Grimes and Henry Jenkins and… ) for keeping us on our toes and not letting us get to comfortable in this new landscape we are pioneering.
Add comment November 30, 2009
Xmas and Ads
I was visiting my mother the other day and, like always, she had her TV on. Thankfully it wasn’t tuned into the normal entertainment “news” show. Although it was on a Lifetime Marathon of sappy xmas movies, so not much better.
One of the many things you can depend on this time of year are ads – lots and lots of ads. On your TV, in your mailbox, your inbox, on billboards, radio – everywhere. Many people abhor these messages, but I kind of love them for what they are; it’s probably the dormant sociologist in me. I see the ads not just as breaks from your show, but as the culmination of months worth of marketing teams working on crafting the perfect message to get you, the lowly consumer, to go out and buy their product or at least remember it’s name.
I think one part of ads that fascinates me in particular is the varying voices and points of view they come from, often times with very careful subtleties. For example, a cell phone ad aimed at a teen is going to have a different look and feel (sometimes subtle, if the agency creating it was on their game) than one aimed at a parent buying the same phone for a teen. Sure the eye rolling and exaggerated clothing (overly disheveled for the teen, overly prim & proper for the mom), but the tone and voice will be different for each ad for the targeted demo. Think of the 12 year old extolling the various benefits of having a cell phone to the newer ads showing Mom/Dad as the smarties for picking unlimited Family plans (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgFw7o5hQtc). Also of note, the Dad character often takes the bumbling parent role or sides with the kids.
Same goes for snack ads that show during a mom-targeted show rather than an afternoon cartoon block. A newer, mom-targeted Pop Tarts ad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_ZXtRGlegE) done in sleek 3D animation, extolling the nutrition and ease of having your child wake up to a Pop Tart breakfast is much different than the stick-figure, shaky-line animation style with rather bizarre scripts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0ZEX0q8B50) or the current UGC campaign they have running on YouTube, (http://www.youtube.com/kelloggspoptarts) both of which are targeted at kids.
Worth mentioning, the new and growing crop of esoteric ads makes me very happy. You have seen them – snarky, strange, usually nonsensical on some level (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQL7Xoe9egI or http://milkquarious.com/#/home). They used to be saved primarily for the Super Bowl audiences, but these types of ads are getting more prevalent during mainstream TV each year. They are clearly made for the teen through 30-something set, those raised on a steady diet of Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park and Cartoon Network. Of course this is not a new trend, as we were acknowledging the teen set as a purchase power demo 5+ years ago, but the tone of the ads has certainly changed for the better (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spa_l_12cIw). The ads are getting much higher quality each year that goes by. My theory is that, as the younger generations continue to cycle into and rise up in the ranks at the different Marketing and Advertising agencies, we will continue get higher quality ads. Or maybe we are just, culturally, getting stranger. 
I always thought that the average person was aware of all of these carefully plotted moves. But the eye rolling and general quizzical looks from my family and friends when I go off on a tangent of appreciation and/or disgust about this, make me realize I may think about this more than the average person.
Seriously, though, you have to agree, the jewelry commercials this time of year are painful. Who are those couples? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltA50HKyM14)
Add comment November 27, 2009
Whatever it Takes – Read it
Those of you who have talked to me in the past month know that I am currently obsessed with the book Whatever It Takes by Paul Tough. It’s about Geoffrey Canada, the Harlem Children’s Zone and the variety of projects the HCZ umbrellas.
I have been a huge advocate for innovation in public schools, both articulated in recent years and in my heart as I was growing up a product of them. We moved a great deal while I was growing up and I had a chance to see many different school districts across the country.
I spent my post-undergrad years, both subconsciously and intentionally, working on projects and jobs that helped develop programs and spaces for kids to learn in non-school environments. I care deeply about learning, love to do so myself and I want every kid to have the opportunity to love it as much as I do.
So Geoffrey Canada’s message of opportunity in face of adversity was very appealing to me. I also really like how he focuses less on cherry picking the talented and driven individuals out of unsavory learning environments and helping them, and more on helping the whole community grow with the stars and the bad apples. Very inspiring stuff.
But there is more than just that. I think the book would appeals to:
- Mothers – cool research on parenting pedagogy
- Educators – tons of research on teaching to the test and historical sociology of education
- Race/Class Studies fans – all kinds of research on history of race and poverty studies and how they intersect with education
Great book, plus super easy to read for the layman. Tear jerker a couple times too with the NPR-esque anecdotes. I guess that makes sense tho, as that’s where I was first introduced to it, in a “driveway moment” with This American Life. You should read it.
Add comment November 1, 2009
Internet + Books = YES!
Thanks trendcentral! Every so often you give me a goldmine of great links. Today was one of those days. For those of you who don’t subscribe, today’s was all about multi-media reading products. Love it!
http://www.eagames.co.uk/page/flips
Book + DS, Yes. Kudos. This was a no brainer, but if you have to make your lil gamer read a book, this is a perfectly good platform and even looks a bit like a kindle. And the titles are tween-tastic.
http://www.vook.com/
iPhone + Books, Maybe. I have tried reading on my iphone and it’s not enjoyable. But I like books. I watched a friend of mine reread Twilight by the pool this summer on hers, so to each their own, I guess. This combinaton of video, audio and reading is a cool idea. I bought one of them to try out. At $4.99 the price point is right and the small bursts of info might be a better use of the medium than classics, etc.
http://www.theamandaproject.com/
All media + book, Ok. This reminds me of that book in 2006 that came with all the fun clues int he front and a phone number and a crappy website. So innovative back then. It was when everyone was jumping on the Lost ARG band-wagon. Publishing is not know for it’s creativity and thinking out of the box, and this method seems like a step up from that older book (I will remember it and post) [Cathy's Book]
Add comment October 20, 2009
Kids Online Unconference ‘09
I helped promote the second Kids Online unconference again and am so happy with the conversations that we all had. I wanted to share the conversations we had.
We used the hashtag #kidsonline if you want to check out the tweets.
I have a collaborative google doc of notes. Please feel free to check it out and/or add to it.
I also tried my first streamed video (audio is poor for many of the talks, but if you listen hard, you can hear us). It’s broken into 3 videos, each rather long. And the video sometimes doesn’t match with the audio. But I tried, right?
I know there were talks at the end about having another one of these next year. If you are interested, let me know and I can let the rest of the organizers know.
ALSO… I want to start roaming cocktail parties where we can all get together and talk shop about the kids online industry. We have a listserv that you should signup for if you are interested in knowing when the next one is (or starting one of your own)
1 comment October 13, 2009
OCS2009 – raw notes
idea crossing
software solution to competitions
skill based versus chance based competeitions
key steps:
- setting the right goals
- prize stragey
- audience and rules
- the incentives
- the prcess
- results and measurements
education based challenge with corp sponsors
- innovation challenge
- lessons learned:
- make an emotional connection
- give individual feedback
- free or fee? 80% submission (rate for pay)
- Rankings = REcogintion
with free to register competitions
- of those that register, only 1/3 will submit
red hat challenge
- lessons learned
- dont rush:make time
- dont compromise community values
- fee or free? the 1/3 rule
- delightful experiences
- transperency: info flow
- enforce rules
hope labs/ruckus nation
- 300 person judging panel – kids and experts
- all only
- leveraged red hat winer
- small prizes and big pot
- name on patent
- video at ruckusnation.com
450 submissions
Lessons learned
- frame question appropriate for audience and desired response
- be prepared to scale
- how many videos submitted
- most popular categories
- under 18 issues
Odyssey of the Mind! – Ryan Wilson
the “best job in the world” competition
a successful prize gets people to do what they wanted to do anyway, but just helps them do it more effectively
considerations:
- finacing strategies
- winner takes all? knwo the cultural context
- size doesn’t equal exposire
- understanding motiovations:social benefit, ego, a job, sharpening skills, etc
- don’t underestimate the power of non-monetary incentives
how do you get community to collaborate, not compete
celebration and publicity
ideas as goal is easier than a breakthrough as a goal
initiation is a good way to describe the context in which we ascribe value to our particiption.
A fee, like other barriers to entry are a little initiation into community or a quest: people then belong.
xprize
- consider what happens post prize
Geoffrey Moore – author about prizes
?’s
- are you just the software/process or do you help facilitate the B2B relationships as well
- who do you partner with for the under 13 stuff
————-
Socal Media Guidelines
- Saleforce has them public
Have on intranet wnat our guidelines are
Murphy’s Winery: push your brand’s events and wins, not your brand name.create awareness of brand’s lifestyle
Add comment October 10, 2009
