Posts filed under ‘online community’
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.
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. 
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)
Oprah’s “surprise” flash mob – organized via SM
Say what you will about the Oprah machine, this was a fantastic result of planning that started last week via twitter and facebook.
I remember the request for people interested in participating in a group dance event with the Black Eyed Peas in the Chicago area going out. One of my sisters is a little (ok, alot) obsessed with the concept of flash mobs and was heartbroken that she was unable to participate in the prep for it. My sister in law was in the second group back, dancing.
I was down on Michigan Ave, finishing a lunch meeting while the dance was being practiced by the crowd (Pics here and here). The event was SO incredibly civil and organized. Oprah was 50 yards away from the crowd practicing, so her claim that she didn’t know is a bit lame. 
Quite impressive, though, the effect that Oprah + social media could have.
Just Be Cool (Netiquette 101)
Had a bit of a family flame war on Facebook today. Oh, n00bs… So I wrote this letter to my FB friends, old and new alike. Thought I would share it on here too.
I have been an internet nerd for over a decade now and I am excited to see such an influx of those who “aren’t good at computers” joining the connected world.
As a online community person, I know that there is a trajectory that a user goes through, no matter their age, as they are introduced, learn and soon, master this brave new world.
I wanted to take this chance to remind my newbie FB “Friends,” as you climb higher up the ladder of knowledge about these new playgrounds, there are somethings you might take for granted or forget in your haste to assimilate into this new environment:
- Take control and use your blocking and filtering tools. If you don’t like something, almost every site (including FB) has tools to help you not see those things – and you can always leave too.
- FB has very few content rules, meaning anyone can post whatever they like – esoteric, prolific, insane, benign, professional, inspirational, etc – it’s the beauty and drawback of social media.
- Give people the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they WEREN’T mocking you. Maybe YOU read it wrong. Usually, it is text, after all. you don’t have the benefit of body language or tone to help you out.
- You can liken it to a playground for kids – Just because you want to play a fairy tale princess game on the jungle gym, doesn’t mean everyone else does. There are also: kids who want to play tag, kids who want to read, kids who want to kiss up to the teachers, kids who want to tell dirty jokes…
- Don’t be a hater – there are too many of those already in the world online and off. And noone likes them. Anywhere.
- The internet is a relatively public forum. Social networks are a bit more walled, but they are just the same. If you wouldn’t rip on your nephew at the summer bbq, in front of the whole family, don’t do it online. Online is almost worse as it’s now documented.
So, my newbie friends, if it feels like I am giving you a lesson that I would an 8 year old, it’s kind of because I am.
You are new here in this digital space and we will have patience with you while you learn the ropes. But don’t use up your newbie cards to soon, because the internet is like the real world and people will just stop dealing with you here too.
Now if you can’t manage the offline space either…
2 golden nuggets from Liisa’s firm
Maine Kid’s Privacy Law Takes Effect September 12
As we have previously reported, the Maine governor signed a new law that: (1) puts an absolute prohibition on using personal information of a minor to market to the minor or to promote any course of action regarding a product to a minor – whether parental permission has been obtained or not and whether you know the person’s age or not; and (2) prohibits knowingly collecting personal information from children in Maine under 18 for “marketing purposes,” without first obtaining parental consent. The prohibited activity of using a minor’s personal information seems to be broadly drafted, and may include not just email and text messages sent to children in Maine – including those between 13 and 17, but also marketing messages sent directly to a child through social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. It’s possible that it could also prohibit analyzing and internally using a minor’s personal information to determine how to market to individuals generally. The prohibition on collecting information for “marketing purpose” is similarly broad. Unfortunately, the exact meaning of the law is subject to multiple interpretations. The law allows not only for the Maine Attorney General to bring actions for violations, but also allows for a private right of action. Although many have objected to the law, an immediate delay or modification does not appear on the horizon. TIP: If you have an ongoing promotion, consider how you will address the eligibility requirements (for example, prohibiting all persons under 18, persons from the state of Maine who are under 18, voiding to Maine residents, or having a verifiable parental consent mechanism). If you do not currently collect date of birth for your marketing activities, consider doing so, or voiding Maine residents. For your existing database, consider separating out those who are under 18 and reside in Maine, and be sure not to send marketing materials to them.
For more tips, see our bulletin at: http://www.winston.com/siteFiles/Publications/4_ME_Tips.html.
Linking to a Non-Compliant Website Is a Violation of CARU Guidelines
The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (“CARU”) recently found that Kidz Bop LLC violated the CARU Guidelines when it contained a link on the Kidz Bop website to a website which allowed the collection of personally identifiable information from children without fully complying with CARU guidelines. The non-compliant website did not implement a neutral age-screening mechanism to filter children under 13, and various areas of the site collected personally identifiable information. CARU found that Kidz Bop could reasonably expect children under 13 to visit their website and CARU guidelines specifically provide that operators of websites which are for children or contain areas for children should not knowingly link to other websites that do not comply with CARU guidelines. In addition, the Kidz Bop website privacy policy did not include Kidz Bop’s contact information, as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
TIP: If you operate a website which is likely to appeal to children under the age of 13, ensure that your website is compliant with CARU Guidelines, including removing any links to websites which you know are not in compliance with the Guidelines.
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OCS09 – Are you going?
The Online Community Summit will be held October 8th & 9th in Sonoma, CA. It is hard to believe that the Online Community Summit is now in it’s eight year!
The Summit was originally convened by Jim Cashel of Forum One in October of 2001 as a unique invitation-based event, bringing together thought leaders from business, government, finance, academia and the media, who despite different positions share a keen interest in online group collaboration. Each year we gather a select group of senior online community professionals to discuss topics addressing business strategy, emerging technologies, key trends, as well as many tactical issues during the breakout sessions.
This year, I will be hosting the Summit, along with co-host Joi Podgorny, Head of Community at Mind Candy. Joi is an online community expert with areas of expertise in virtual worlds and online experiences for children.
Online Community Summit 2009 – Initial Topics & Session Leads
Really excited to be helping out with this this year. Love this event and always leave excited and invigorated. 
Did I tell you about my new job?
So most of you who read this know already, but if you don’t, I got a new job! And its in London! Working with a fantastic people at a fantastic company who I have been a fan of for years! Exclamation points are fun!
I am the new Head of Community at Mind Candy, makers of the wonderfully addictive Moshi Monsters. We are experiencing terrific growth in our traffic and subsequent community, thanks to aforementioned addictive quality of the game, as well as due to the super powers of our Marketing team. My job is to make sure the kiddos (and grown up fans) stay safe, have fun, and keep on playing. Cool, eh?
If you don’t already have a Monster of you own, go NOW and adopt one. If you become a member you get access to even more cool stuff. And once you have one, become friends with my Moshi. It’s name is Fizmo (bonus points to those of you who know where that name comes from )
You have been warned. This is gonna be big.
Northandclark interview
My friend Casey Brazael has cool blog, called North and Clark, where he finds interesting people and does short interviews them. I am honored to be one of those interviewees.
Thought I would share the link:
http://northandclark.blogspot.com/2009/06/wednesday-podcast-joi-podgorny.html
Thanks, Casey!
I am the Lost Generation
LOVE this! Found it at ypulse mashup today. I will put more thoughts from the conference later, but had to share this.
