MyPunchblog

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Marketing & PR Manager

I had a thought earlier today: Do we really need office phones anymore? These days most business communication is done via email. I know I personally prefer email over the phone for several reasons:

• I can respond whenever I want to. If it’s something urgent I can address it as soon as it comes into my inbox. If it doesn’t need immediate attention, I can focus on other priorities until I’m ready to take action.
• Some people are just very hard to reach by phone so unless you want to leave a voicemail (which will likely go unanswered), email is the best way to get in front of them.
• I like the “paper trail” that comes with using email. If you’re organized like me, email is a great way to keep track of important information.
• We can now video chat in our email (Google’s gchat), which makes communicating with remote coworkers much easier.
• I don’t like getting calls from sales people. I know it’s their job and I appreciate that, but in most cases I’m not interested and it just takes up my time. I read every email that comes into my inbox so email is a much better way to get in touch with me.

The irony here is that while my preferred communication style is email, when I first started at MyPunchbowl I made a big deal about needing a phone line. The reason is there are still those occasions when you just need to pick up the phone and call someone:

• While a lot of people out there claim to read every email, they certainly do not respond to all of them. Calling to follow-up about something is sometimes the only way to get the attention of busy people.
• Other people and companies continue to rely on phones as a means of doing business. We had an instance at MyPunchbowl where another company needed to call and speak to someone in our office in order to verify that we existed!
• Phone communication is a good way to build relationships — if you’re able to get through!

What is your preference? Do you think we need office phones? Does it make a difference depending on industry or job type? Share your thoughts in the comments.

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Marketing & PR Manager

Last night I attended a great event hosted by the Boston chapter of Girls in Tech. “Using Social Media in Your Organization” was a topic that I knew I didn’t want to miss and after reading about the speakers and the format, I signed up immediately. I also thought this would be another opportunity to work on my networking skills.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Girls in Tech, it’s a “social network enterprise focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology.” I had heard of this group before in other cities like San Francisco and New York, but the Boston chapter is new this spring. Very exciting!

Held in Cambridge at Microsoft’s office overlooking the Charles River, the setup was great for chatting and grabbing a quick bite before the panel got going. The panelists — Karen Rubin, Hubspot; Rachel Happe, Community Roundtable; Mike Langford, TweetWorks; and Cappy Popp, Thought Labs — shared great ideas for how to use social media for business. The key takeaway: content, content, content. If you don’t have interesting and useful content to share with customers and potential customers, what is their reason to friend/follow/fan you?

My favorite part of the event were the case studies. Two participants from different organizations were chosen to share their story about how they currently use social media, what their goals are for social media, then ask specific questions of the panel. I found it really useful to hear real suggestions for how to improve your Facebook page or how to increase Twitter followers. Some of the things we already do (ie RSS feed of our blog to our Facebook page), but there are still things we don’t do (ie RSS feed of our blog and party planning posts to our Twitter account).

Overall I thought the event was really well done and all of the participants (speakers and attendees) seemed genuinely excited and interested to be there. I look forward to attending more Girls in Tech Boston events in the future!

This post written by Sean Conta, Founder & CXO

A little while ago, a fellow skier turned me on to a website called “Steep and Cheap”(www.steepandcheap.com). Steep and Cheap is an example of a new breed of eCommerce sites with a unique format: At any given moment there is only one nicely priced item for sale on their site. When that item sells out, they put up another one.

If you’ve never heard of sites like this let me tell you, it’s a fantastic idea. Not only do they usually have great deals, but they bring the term “sticky” to a new level. If you have a “sticky” site, it means people come back to your site often. Everyone wants a sticky site but it can be a challenge depending on your business or service. Steep and Cheap and other “one-at-a-time” websites have really nailed it in my opinion

Steep and Cheap is great for skiers like me, but you can find “one-at-a-time” sites for many other markets. Another example is Woot (www.woot.com). They have a general focus in electronics and also have sibling sites for wine and T-shirts. Woot is slightly different, they only have one item a day, but it’s an equally sticky site.

Here’s a few more to check out. A word of warning though - you may become addicted. Oh and be prepared to buy stuff…

shirt.woot.com

wine.woot.com

www.tramdock.com

www.dillyeo.com

Know of any more? Add them in the comments below.

This post written by Sean Conta, Founder & CXO

I do most of the testing for MyPunchbowl and it’s an increasingly complicated task. We’re always adding new features and fixes to the site and everything needs to be thoroughly tested. But the functions of the site itself is only one dimension of testing. We also have to test in multiple web browsers.

A lot of people online today don’t even really know what “web browser” means, much less if they’re running IE6, 7, 8, Firefox 3, or Chrome (OK if you’re running Chrome you probably know a thing or two). But if you are in tune with the web world you’re painfully aware of browser options and you also probably share a fundamental disgust for that “cranky-and-slightly-crazy-old-man-who-hasn’t-taken-his-medication” of web browsers: Internet Explorer version 6.

Is your website working and looking fine? Boot it up in IE6 and turn that smile upside down!

Hatred of IE6 among web programmers is well documented if you spend a few minutes asking the internet. Our newest programmer (Ryan) has shown a real genuine and promising level of spite for the ‘ole IE6. He turned me on to a site attempting to organize the war on IE6: http://www.bringdownie6.com/. Check out the home page for a concise summary of the problem at hand.

The other day I came across another clever innovation that further illustrates the desires of the web programmers of the world: http://ie6update.com/. Here’s a piece of code that you drop into your site that makes it appear (if you’re using IE6) that Microsoft is prompting you to upgrade your browser. Phenomenal.

And that’s the other problem with Internet Explorer version 6. Users can ignore the Microsoft updates and suddenly find themselves running an 8 year old browser in today’s modern internet. As Matt likes to say (often to users) “that’s like riding a bicycle on the highway”.

So do yourself (and us) a favor: if you’re using IE6 to read this post, head over to Microsoft and upgrade your browser. You can thank me later for picking you and your bicycle up on the side of the highway.

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Marketing & PR Manager

It’s hard not to notice that Twitter has been all over the place lately. Between Oprah’s first tweet on Friday, April 17 and Ashton reaching one million followers on the same day (soon to be two million?), stories about Twitter are making the mainstream news.

One other celebrity is making news on Twitter. Hugh Jackman, of Wolverine fame, posted a tweet that he will donate AUS $100,000 (approximately US $72,000) to one person’s charity–the person who can best convince him in 140 characters why he should donate to their charity.

When I saw this story I thought I would try to come up with a solid tweet to send Hugh regarding my own favorite charity (we all have one, right?). When I did a search to see what types of tweets Hugh was receiving, I noticed that one had been retweeted quite a few times. Of course I had to click the link to see what was so retweet-worthy.

Here is the original tweet: @RealHughJackman PLEASE donate your $100k to March of Dimes in honor of my baby #Maddie http://tinyurl.com/dnewtk

I held back tears as I read about baby Maddie and looked at her adorable pictures on a blog dedicated to her short life and her family’s quest to raise money so other babies will have more of a chance than Maddie had.

I realize this story isn’t particularly relevant to MyPunchbowl but I know that many of our users are parents and moms, in particular, so I thought this story might touch you like it touched me.

Whether you want to hop on Twitter right now and retweet for Maddie or send Hugh a tweet about your own charity, this might be the thing that finally makes you take the next step to join Twitter.

And while you’re there, say hi to us at @mypunchbowl!

This post written by Stephanie Fader, Marketing & PR Manager

Every day I receive a digest email from a professional group I’m a member of on LinkedIn, “Pro Marketers — For Marketing Professionals,” organized by the folks at Hubspot. These emails typically contain 25 of the day’s discussion topics from group members. I tend to open these emails just to skim the contents and see if anything peaks my interest enough to click through to read more.

Yesterday was one of those days when something did catch my eye. Not only did it catch my eye but it actually upset me a bit. I’ve highlighted it in red below:

If you can’t read it, it says, “Twitter is a joke. What do you think?” My first reaction was, “Is this discussion topic a joke?”

The author of this post, Patrick Warneka, a commercial/corporate photographer, goes on to say, “I have researched it for a few months and other then the Club kids, Paris Hilton, Google and CNN I don’t see any value for most business. If you can get your total message out in 144 characters, good or you. But what about the rest of us who can’t just say “Got Milk?” and have our message understood?”

As someone who’s been using Twitter for less than six months, I can already see the enormous potential. From communicating new features and responding to customer feedback to brand building and learning about PR opportunities, Twitter is just the latest tool in a marketer’s toolkit.

Like I said, I’m fairly new to Twitter. That’s why I’m trying to absorb everything I can about it including following social media leaders like @chrisbrogan, @pistachio and @skydiver, reading blogs and books on the topic, and just getting out there and tweeting.

As for getting your total message out in 140 characters, well that’s just a good idea no matter what medium you’re using to communicate.

This one’s for you Patrick from @sbfader:

Next week on July 15th, 2008, the Web Innovators Group will be holding their only summer gathering. I’ve been to many WebInno meetings in the past, and we presented MyPunchbowl to the group in January of 2007.

If you’re any one of the following types of people, you won’t regret attending the WebInno meeting next week:

• You’re a person trying to start a company
• You’re a person looking for a job in a startup company
• You’re an angel investor looking to meet interesting people with new ideas
• You’re a VC looking to be one of the first investors to find an interesting deal
• You’re in a big company and spend most of your day wishing you weren’t

Make sure to register for the WebInno event (you have to be registered to attend). Also check out a preview of the WebInno demo lineup.

I’m hoping that David Beisel and friends will take my suggestion to help connect employers with employees. Specifically, here’s what I would do at the event:

1. Provide large green stickers for hiring employers to wear on their name badge
2. Provide large red stickers for job seekers to wear on their name badge
3. Set up a specific area/room of the venue where job-seekers should congregate. Invite hiring employers to head over there if they are actively hiring
4. Provide a large corkboard with notecards where job seekers and employers can post a note about what they are looking for (this will also serve as a logical place to gather)
5. Publicize the WebInno job board throughout the event.

I also wish there was a WebInno Google group to keep the conversation going after the event was over. Hopefully, some of these ideas will be implemented for the July WebInno event. Hope to see you there.

Most people look at companies like Facebook, MySpace — and even Punchbowl — and categorize them as media companies. Like the old media stalwarts (Hearst, Conde Nast etc) these new web companies are thought to be extensions of the same kind of business.

Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook Founder & CEO) said this little gem in response to a statement by Kara Swisher at the AllThingsD conference yesterday:

Kara: you are a media company.

Mark: no we are a technology company. We focus on building technology.

Well said, Mark. I like to think of Punchbowl as a technology company too. We’re focused on building the best technology to enable people to plan a great celebration, and we’re building the technology that’s required to build our business as well. Sure, we may also develop new content and sell advertising (like a media company) but ultimately what sets us apart is the technology and user interface that our users love.

I thought this was an interesting tidbit from a guy who has built a pretty impressive technology company. Call him lucky, shrewd, or brash — but I respect Mark and the team at Facebook for the amazing technology company they have built.

Last night, I attended the 17th meeting of the Web Innovators Group. For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you’ll recall that I was one of the main presenters at the WebInno group back in January 2007.

I hadn’t gone to the last few WebInno group meetings, and I was pleased to see some of the improvements that David Beisel had implemented. For example, employers (like me) were able to wear a red dot on their name tag to signify that they are actively hiring. While I think this system worked ok, I think it could be better: my recommendation is to reverse who wears a sticker. I think it would be a lot more effective if those seeking a job wore a red sticker. I would also designate a section of the room (for example, the entry hallway) as the place for job seekers to hang out so that employers can easily find them among the crowd.

There were three main presentations last night:

1) Good2gether: A service that helps connect local charities to consumers. I thought the demonstrator did a nice job of quickly communicating the problem that they are trying to solve, and their unique solution (partnering with media companies like Boston.com). Punchbowl has some experience with Boston.com, and I know that they like the look and feel to be seamlessly integrated throughout their site. So I have some concerns about whether or not Good2gether is going to be able to replicate this quickly across the country. But there is precedent: Good2together’s model reminds me of Zvents, and they have been successful at this media model. One last note: I would have liked for them to address the competition question: Kiva.org has gotten a tremendous amount of good press. Will Kiva go after this media approach?

2) PicMe: A desktop application (with a web component) that enables picture viewing and sharing. As an Adobe alum, I’ve seen my share of these types of applications. Great technology, great demo — but I don’t think there is a significant business opportunity. I like the guys at PicMe (I met them a few months back) – I’d recommend that they try to license the technology to companies like HP, Canon, Adobe rather than try to make a consumer play.

3) Jack Cards: A service that sends you pre-stamped greeting cards in the mail. About 2 minutes into the presentation, I turned to my colleague sitting next to me and said “she looks really nervous.” About a second later, the woman on the stage apologized for being so nervous. It’s tough to watch someone who is so nervous on stage, so I’d really recommend to Jack Cards that they work on their presentation. I’m not exactly sure what to think of Jack Cards, but I will say this: I’m surprised that they were chosen as a featured “WebInno” company. There’s really nothing “web innovative” that they are doing. They are essentially an e-commerce company. As I sat through the demo I imagined someone from Target giving us a demo of their e-commerce store. Yawn. I’m sure Jack Cards will get some great press, but will the masses flock to the site? Hard to say for sure, but I doubt it.

After the main presentations, I had a chance to say hello to some familiar faces, and meet some new people. I was pleasantly surprised at how many new people were at the Web Innovators meeting last night, and I left the event with a stack of business cards. When I got home, my wife amused herself by reading the company names on the business cards (oh those Web 2.0 names!). She pointed out that Genevate has nothing to do with genes and that had I met someone from Velocity and someone from Virosity. Nice.

Thanks to David Beisel and the sponsors of WebInno for providing a venue to bring the Boston Web community together.

As I mentioned in a post last week, we have a lot in store for 2008. We’re starting off with two important announcements today, and we’re excited to share both of them with you.

First, we’re excited for the start of a promotional partnership with Celebrations.com, a new site in Beta from 1-800-Flowers. Celebrations is a site full of great party ideas– from experts and the community –for everything from birthday parties to tailgating. Right now they are running a contest, giving away a dream super bowl party to the contest entrant that submits the most creative party idea. If you are a MyPunchbowl user, we hope you’ll be inspired by ideas from the Celebrations community. We encourage you to check out the site, submit your ideas, and then head back to MyPunchbowl for your Super Bowl party planning needs.

We’re thrilled about working with Celebrations.com and the folks at 1-800-Flowers. I’ll have more to say about our “budding” relationship in future posts.

Second, we’re happy to announce “Share on Facebook” support within MyPunchbowl.com. This useful feature enables MyPunchbowl users to easily publicize their MyPunchbowl events on Facebook. From MyPunchbowl, Facebook users can choose to either post the event on their profile or send the event as a message to their Facebook friends. It’s really the best of both worlds: use the sophisticated event-planning features on MyPunchbowl to plan your event or party and then publish to Facebook to share it with your social network. We encourage you to create an account on MyPunchbowl.com and give our new “Share on Facebook” a try for your next event.

These two announcements further our goal to offer the most sophisticated event and party planning website while partnering with the best companies in the world. We hope you share our excitement.

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Party Planning and Online Invitations with MyPunchbowl