Monthly Archives: October 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!

Flips

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.

Vooks

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.

Amanda Project

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]

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)

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

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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