Advercation = Advertising + Education

Me.Dium is a social app that connects web browsers with one another by tracking their surfing behavior, and displaying their current locations for others to see. Yes this is creepy, but it is certainly interesting to see the web ’socialized’ in this manner. Me.dium also provides an easy way for you to chat with people who are viewing the same sites you are at that time.

From a marketer’s perspective, you could feasibly use this app to introduce Me.dium users to your blog/product site by surfing to the site you’d like people to come to. If you have a big enough friend base, this feature would allow you to draw a large ‘crowd’ of users with you as you travel the web. The larger your sphere of influence, the more pronounced your effect on web traffic would be. Think about how someone like Michael Arrington would effect web traffic patterns if we could see where he is surfing to all day? You’d click and follow along right? I would.

On a related note, it looks like Statisfaction is powering Me.dium’s customer service feedback mechanism.

While I knew Lane Becker and some other West Coast digerati (see “Team Satisfaction” in the right sidebar) were working on a better way for companies to provide customer service, I wasn’t aware of how much progress they had made.  Their ‘novel’ idea is to actually listen to customers and act on their feedback.   DING!

They’ve already signed up Twitter, Pownce, AT&T, Growl, O’Reilly Media, Google, JumpCut, Apple, Nintendo and a bunch of others. I haven’t really dug deep into this tool yet, but on the surface it looks to be creating a lot of value for customers and companies of all kinds.  With a focus on empowering people this way, what’s not to like?

In May ‘07 I posted here about how Washington DC is waking up to interactive.

The scene here has been pretty intense lately and last week’s event was a highlight of recently happenings:

Facebook Developer Garage DC was brought to town by Jesse Thomas, Nick O’Neill and Robert Neel.

Sponsors included EdelmanPR, and freewebs. iStrategyLabs threw in a live stream session which can be found here:

DC Startup Weekend is the next big thing coming up and I’ll be providing the live stream, some interactive marketing and interactive strategy components.

Will Kern posted on his blog recently about how he feels a groundswell of activity in the DC interactive scene. I’ve felt this for sometime too, and I feel we’ve reach a tipping point. There are plans underway to create an overarching organization that can help facilitate the growth of the broader DC tech community by helping solidify event sponsorships, simplify meeting logistics and create cross pollination among affinity groups.

Some folks might feel we’re ‘trying to replicate silicon valley’ here in DC - that’s not the mission, nor do we wish we were in the valley. We love DC and are working hard to support all the talented technologists in the area, enabling them to achieve what they seek. We’re currently brainstorming a brand name that we all can be proud to support and one that would serve as an appropriate umbrella organization. The naming thread is in The DC Technology ning socnet and can be found here. Special thanks to Justin Thorp for putting up the ning community.

Look out for WidgetDevCamp coming to DC on 11/15.

It’s been a very busy six weeks, and I’ve neglected posting to Advercation as my focus has shifted to my startup iStrategyLabs.  Here’s what’s going on:

1) iStrategyLabs speaking engagements

2) DC Technology Network is Growing 

3) Interactive Strategists featured @ iStrategyLabs

You maybe be aware of the interesting web app Tokbox that enables you to embed video chat anywhere you like. TechCrunch posted a nice writeup here.

Let’s try a little experiment. Throw your embed code in the comments section of this post, and i’ll create a montage of all known TokBox users on one page.

Your code will look like this:

<object type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” data=”http://www.tokbox.com/f/7oyiuFrZU0″ width=”425″ height=”210″ etc. etc. etc. etc.

The important part is your unique user ID…the “7oyiuFrZU0” you see above is the user ID. Once I get a few of these from you all I’ll create a page where you can see others wh0 are available for chat. Imagine seeing 1000 streaming video faces ready to chat! READY? GO!

UPDATE: The TokBoxers Experiments Page is up: http://www.advercation.com/experiments/tokboxers.html

Please send more or friend request me on TokBox.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

iStrategyLabs Launches Product Lab and Marketing Strategy Services

Washington, DC, August 27, 2007

iStrategyLabs announced today the formation of a suite of services geared towards enabling businesses to more deeply connect with audiences using integrated marketing, interactive strategy and ideation.

Peter Corbett, Chairman and CEO, of iStrategyLabs leads the new venture from its Washington, DC, headquarters.

Regarding iStrategyLabs key differentiator, Corbett said:

“We’re an idea foundry. What sets us apart is our focus on inventing new products and services for businesses to take to market. Coupled with our integrated marketing and interactive strategy services, our ultimate goal is to generate revenue for our clients.”

iStrategyLabs is currently evaluating digital products that can be deployed by brands in order to stimulate brand awareness, resulting immediate sales and deeper customer loyalty.

Corbett went on to state that:

“We’re looking for three to five core digital products that are in alpha or beta, which we can augmented via interactive strategy recommendations so that we can then find homes for them with leading brands. We’re developing a number of products internally, but feel confident that with a little refining, some of the products that are being developed by passionate programmers can be ready for primetime much faster than without iStrategyLabs involvement.”

Entrepreneurs, inventors and technologist are encouraged to contact peter@istrategylabs.com if they’re interested in exploring partnerships.

About iStrategyLabs

iStrategyLabs is a consultancy focused on providing clients with integrated and interactive marketing strategy. Its product lab incubates digital product ideas, combining strategy, capital and human resources in order to bring them to market for leading brands.

About Peter Corbett

Peter comes to iStrategyLabs with a breadth of knowledge and experience perfectly suited for his role, which focuses on moving clients businesses forward. Peter’s true passion is working with clients to engage consumers using interactive tactics and fusing these methods with an integrated approach.

From web site creation to online media campaigns, mobile marketing and social media, Peter has the experience and understanding to help marketers wrap their minds and business models around the interactive space. Peter has a degree from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School with a focus on operations, management and entrepreneurship. He is also a board member of the Goizueta Business School and the Art Director’s Club of Metropolitan Washington.

Peter’s Blogs and Publications:
www.advercation.com (Interactive Strategy Focused, Author)
www.allfacebook.com (Facebook Focused, Co-Author)

Marketing Plan Walkthrough + Foundational Interactive Tactics (Co-Author)

Age of Conversation (Co-Author)

Connect with Peter:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/pcorbett
http://www.twitter.com/corbett3000
http://www.myspace.com/pcorbett
http://www.facebook.com/pcorbett

Contact:
Peter Corbett
Chairman & CEO
iStrategyLabs
917-748-3595
peter [at] istrategylabs.com
http://www.iStrategyLabs.com

In the interest of more closely tying the DC Tech community together, I’ve begun compiling a list of DC Tech Twitter-ers. If you’re a DC Tech Twitter-er, and not represented below, please leave a comment on this post your twitter link and i’ll add you. Additionally, please include your blog as a reference as well. Lastly, if you follow someone in DC who is a tech oriented Twitter-er, please throw their link into the comments as well. Oh and follow me!

From BarCampDC’s Twitter:

From RefreshDC’s Twitter (if not included above):

From Peter Corbett’s Twitter (my twitter):

DC Based (if not included above):

Non-DC but worthwhile:

From what I’ve gathered from blog posts and emails, BarCamp DC was a great success and will become even better after integrating some attendees’ valuable input.

I was attending the Art Director’s Club of Metropolitan Washington’s annual board member retreat during BarCamp…..so in absentia I’ve been receiving praise for being an organizer.

As much as I enjoy the link love from being included in this group, I can’t share in the credit that Justin Thorp, Jason Garber, M. Jackson Wilkinson, Rodney Degracia, Martin Ringlein, Nick O’Neill, and Justin Stockton deserve as the organizers. I missed out due to a double booking…and for that I’m sad.

Are we ready to plan the next one, though? I’m ready to start organizing for October! How about you?

In addition to my full time role at Blattner Brunner, I’ve happily taken on a resident artist’s role at “X” (aka XinDC) as an Interactive Collaboration Designer (ICD) and VJ.

From the Washington Times article “X marks the next hot spot” :

“In some ways, it resembles an early-era hip-hop party: a gathering of artistic minds working in different disciplines who celebrate their right to create; who vibe off one another; who draw inspiration from their urban environment; who employ and push the capacities of new technologies; who hopefully entertain a few people; and, perhaps most importantly, who have the potential to create a new dialogue between creators and consumers.

‘It’s breaking down barriers between the normal, everyday population and artists and their craft and the skill behind it,’ says David Fogel, who conceptualized X and co-founded 88, one of the groups that produces the evening.”

For more about ICD and my involvement in X, please see my artists bio here.

The next X event in DC will take place at Be Bar on Saturday, 8.18 from 6pm to 10pm.

More details about the event can be found at www.xindc.tv and www.upcoming.org.

I hope to see you there!