Archive for August, 2010
Does exactly what it says on the tin; just the posts that relate to the above...
Mixd monkey business
The Mixd team spent an afternoon going back to our evolutionary roots at Go Ape’s Dalby Forest operation. Hanging around in trees, beating our chests, singing ‘The Funky Gibbon’ and scratching our… noses.
As part of the Mixd mantra ‘play well together, work hard together’ we like to get out and about in this beautiful County of Yorkshire from time to time and do things that excite us, challenge us, and even scare us… mentioning no names, Bob! Some call it team building; we call it good fun. The Mixd outing to Dalby Forest was no exception. From challenging rope bridges, through Tarzan swings, to 140 feet high zip lines, the Go Ape experience didn’t disappoint. If you’ve done it, you’ll know what we’re saying. If you haven’t, it’s hard to explain… the video will give you so much more than words can!
Members of the Mixd team were full of enthusiasm:
“Brilliant, fun day – enjoyed the tarzan swings and zip lines!” Dave
“No messing around. This is serious business.” Matt
“A great way to spend an afternoon – an exciting challenge and amazing surroundings.” Mike
“Who do you think you are… Harry Houdini! Still makes me laugh now!” Phil to Bob
“Me Tarzan. You Jane.” Bob to (a running scared) Phil
Now I would ride 100 miles!
I just wanted to say a huge thanks for all the support and the money raised from the British Heart Foundation’s South Downs Way Randonnée that I took part in a few weeks ago. I think I’ve just about recovered now!
100 miles in 11 hours
I’m pleased to say I completed all 100 miles in a total time of 11 hours and 23 minutes; nearly an hour quicker than last year! Getting up a 4am to start this ridiculously long bike ride is not great – trust me! Not only that but I had decided to cook porridge on a small camping stove in the hotel room. The first problem therefore was to avoid setting off the fire alarms so early in the morning… which I just about managed.
The 100 mile (161km) route runs from Winchester to Eastbourne covering the entire length of the South Downs with a staggering 3,550 metres of climbing! It’s a tough route and a great test of endurance but also a thoroughly enjoyable event for a great cause.
I am very happy how the day panned out (and especially bewildered at being the 5th entrant to cross the finish line!) and very grateful to everyone for everything! If you’ve not yet shown your support you can still sponsor me online.
Epic fail
So here I am, gutted by the result of my first ever mountain bike race that I took part in this weekend. Whilst I managed to complete three laps of a very tough course, I never completed the official four laps required for my “Master” category. On crossing the finish line after my third lap I was promptly told “You’re finished mate!”. The fact is, I had been finished since the first climb and in a stubborn fit of rage I had pushed on and refused to dismount until the four laps were complete. I did not want the letters “DNF” (Did Not Finish) marked against my name on my first ever race! But it simply never occurred to me that I could and would be pulled from the race altogether after only three laps for not being quick enough!
Fresh from my success in the British Heart Foundation Randonee and with encouragement from other cycling friends, I had decided to have a go at cross country racing. Which is why I found myself in a field, somewhere in Swaledale, on a bright and windy Sunday morning. The race is part of the Nutcracker series and I have to say was very well organised. My morning consisted mostly of watching other riders go through their pre-race preparations whilst I became increasingly nervous!
I came across an article in a recent copy of “The Ride” and thought the words really made sense with how I feel about the event;
“Most, if not all, writing about sport focuses on success. That’s what it’s all about isn’t it – success? Failure, though? The ugly twin brother. No one is interested in the also-ran, the quitters and the losers, are they? I’d like to challenge the above assumption and received wisdom though. I truly think we can learn from our mistakes when it comes to competition. I’m not just talking about throwaway remarks such as ‘try harder next time’. No, I’d like to show how the very objectives we set ourselves in the first place are the key to success or failure.”
My rationale was that I’d finished the 100 mile Randonee and I could do anything if I had the right plan of action. I had trained hard, prepared well yet still I simply could not deliver.
“So what did I learn. What wisdom can I impart? It’s about targets. We are all architects of our own success, simply by choosing the objectives to set ourselves. My failing was not that I hadn’t worked hard enough, hadn’t tried hard enough or hadn’t invested enough time or passion into the endeavour. No, it was simply that I set myself an unachievable goal given the point I was at. So my lesson learnt is to choose wisely. Goals met are a joy to the soul, goals failed, even though you gave your all, are a crushing weight.”
Facebook ‘Places’ launched
It has arrived! After much speculation social media giant Facebook announced a new, optional location based service for its 500 million members called ‘Places’.
Places allows you to check in to the various places you go to, and share that information with your Facebook friends, complete with maps and comments and the Facebook thumbs-up ‘like’ feature.
The next big social media thing?
As we rumoured yesterday, the Facebook location services could be the next big thing to explode on the social networking scene. We’re keen to see how things pan out in these so called… ‘location wars’.
In fact we were so keen to get to grips with Facebook Places that we downloaded the update to the Facebook iPhone app this morning to get testing…
Sadly, it looks like we are going to have to wait a while. The new Places feature is currently only available in the US, Facebook said it will be rolling out the tool to other countries in the coming months.
Shame on you Facebook! In the meantime we will keep ‘playing’ with other location based services such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Shopkick.
If you are interested to hear more about how location based services can help your business, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us!
Facebook location services
Rumour has it that social media giant Facebook is due to release the geolocation “check-in” feature at an event in Palo Alto late tonight. Location Based Services are certainly one of the hottest topics in social media right now and this highly anticipated release might allow Facebook users to tell friends exactly where they are (using the GPS on their phones) and what they are doing and thinking.
Why use a location based service?
I’ve been playing around with location based services for some time now and have had several really good experiences. On a recent visit to London I was able to obtain local “inside” knowledge on the best places to eat in the area where I was. Ok, so I could have just asked someone or perhaps put a message on Twitter, but the difference here was my mobile knew exactly where I was and presented me with a list of “tips” that were all close by. Just think how useful it would be to always have local knowledge! The kind of information may be more useful when you’re on holiday or away from home but it still has a use. Right now, I think the problem with location based services is many people are concerned about privacy issues and perhaps are not keen on letting friends (or burglars) know where they are!
Foursquare and Gowalla
The past year has seen big growth in this relatively new mobile space with location services such as Foursquare and Gowalla fighting it out for users. Foursquare has become the clear favourite of the two and has seen an increasing number of big brands offering special offers and incentives helping to boost their offering. Of course, Foursquare’s relative success could soon be dwarfed by the sheer volume of Facebook users! The biggest issue with both these networks is that beyond the “tips” offering they are not giving the user any real incentive to use them. Until now…
Location based service with real-world incentives
One of the biggest problems with many location based networks is they rely on the user to “check-in” to the location and this is where Shopkick offers something different. Instead of checking in, as you would with a geo app like Foursquare or Gowalla, shopkick automatically recognises when someone with the shopkick app on their phone walks into a store. “The minute you enter a Best Buy location, your phone recognizes it and you get points and a message that there are deals available at this location. ” According to the New York Times, major American retailers such as Macy’s, Best Buy, Sports Authority and American Eagle Outfitters are working with Shopkick to offer promotions to shoppers as they move from outside the store, to counters, to cash registers.
Can you see a use for location based services?
At Mixd, we have been talking to our clients about how services such as Foursquare can be used as an incentive scheme to attract customers. Promotional deals for frequent customers have already started popping up on the service. Dominos Pizza is one such example that have launched nationwide promotions to encourage users to check-in at its outlets. We are interested to hear your thoughts on whether you feel offering a discount to regular customers on these social networks will help your business?
Google Wave goodbye
Rumoured to be the next big thing in Social Media, Google Wave launched just over a year ago following an extensive “invite only” testing period. It is with shock and disbelief to hear that Google have announced they have halted development of its Wave project.
In recent years, Google have become very good at launching new products; rumours are started on social networks like Twitter, screen shots emailed around select industry leaders with the hope that on-line magazines such as Tech Crunch will pick up on the story and run blog posts. It is all part of the plan that aims to get the most coverage for the new product and it works!
Tech Crunch reported that when Google Wave was unveiled at Google I/O back in May 2009, it was one of the most ambitious projects they had ever seen!
“Everyone uses email and instant messaging on the web now, but imagine if you could tie those two forms of communication together and add a load of functionality on top of it. At its most fundamental form, that’s essentially what Wave is. Developed by brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussenand Stephanie Hannon out of Google’s Sydney, Australia offices, Wave was born out of the idea that email and instant messaging, as successful as they still are, were both created a very long time ago. We now have a much more robust web full of content and brimming with a desire to share stuff.”
At Mixd, we’ve been invovled with Google Wave from the beginning. We were one of the first to receive a private invite (even before the official closed “Invite Only” launch on September 29th 2009 – we’ve got friends in high places!) and we have been actively involved with the Google Wave Developer conferences. So, yes we are sad to see it go.
So why has it failed?
- A lot of users found it difficult to use – just ask Mike!
- Why try and reinvent email when email works just fine – the concept of Google Wave is good and if we are honest we quite liked what it did but why try to replace email? Can you imagine the NHS announcing they are going to ditch email? Don’t think so!
- There’s no big endorsement for the product – there is no one we recognise in our industry (such as Stephen Fry) endosring the product and telling everyone how good it is.
- We don’t need it – like many I’m quite happy using email. I don’t need another service to make my working life even more complicated.
Did you try it? We would be interested to hear your comments on your experiences of Google Wave and why you think it has not worked.