Julia Roy

Twitter Rumors

I follow close to 3,000 people on Twitter and am witness to all types of crazy conversations, shared thoughts and heated debates. People find answers, love, new jobs and invaluable advice on Twitter.  At the same time - hundreds of rumors are started, secrets are told, and news stories are leaked everyday on Twitter, making it the place to find and debate the best gossip around.

I was sucked into a twitter rumor today. It was tweeted and I contemplated it, questioned it with my followers and searched Google to find the truth. After my investigation, I am pleased to Announce to the World that Jared Fogel, Subway's legendary spokesman, is not, in fact, dead. I was so sad this morning when I was unsure, but now I am sure -- Jared is still alive not only in our hearts, but also on this earth. Hooray!

I would love to know, how many rumors are started, debated and killed on Twitter daily. The birth and lifecycle of twumors (twitterrumors) is fast paced, and well nutured by all of us who participate. There are pages of twitter search results from today alone, with people announcing, denouncing and debating Jared's death. 

I am also quite interested to know who is behind jaredremembered.com. Subway and its agencies? Some random dude in San Diego? Apparently, the rumor was debated as early as August of last year. And where are Jared's fans and supporters defending his life? Long live Jared! In any case, hat tip to the mastermind(s) - you got me.

Example of Great Online Advertising

Orange, a mobile internet provider in the UK, knows how to be a good web advertiser.

First, check out the orange racoon balloon floating on the lower right hand side of the Notcouture website, and click on it. It takes you to "the worlds first internet balloon race" sponsored by Orange Mobile, a communications service provider in the UK.  Lots of fun prizes to be won, great online game experience, smart adverstising and execution, love it.

Now, help me win some prizes! (Not even sure if I can win prizes since I am in the U.S., but I am sure as hell going to try.)

Twitter Fountain

I found this Twitter / Flickr combo app, Twitter Fountain, via Andrea Vascellari's blog. I have a feeling we will be seeing more combo apps like this that pull user data from several social sites, to create one visualization of content. Me likes. It woudl be great to see a service like friendfeed do something like this as an additional way to view user feeds.

You can get your own by simplying editing this one! Select the "adjust" button on the bottom right and enter in your own info and copy the widget. Voila!

Alltop Twitterati

I am so proud to be selected as one of Alltop's Twitterati. I have definitely spent enough time on Twitter to earn this title, but none-the-less I am very flattered to be in the midst of some powerful Twitter peeps like Chris Brogan, Dave Winer and Jeremiah Owyang (who I happen to be listed next to on Alltop).

Check out the "confirmation that I kick ass" Alltop badge on my sidebar I just added. Honestly, all the badges are genius. Nothing better than a typically boring blog badge, turned into a conversation piece and a reason to smile.

Make Good Ideas Happen

I am so bummed I missed the Make Good Ideas Happen, hosted by Behance. I got all the way to the venue just to find I forgot my I.D. and the door guy would not let me in. Grrrr. My co-worker and bf, Yianni Garcia, got to go and said it was a blast! City Year, StartingBloc, and Sustainable South Bronx presented their ideas to change the world, and attendee's wrote down their ideas to turn into them at the end of the event.

I want to work more with non-profits and help them navigate the social web to help raise awareness (and $$) for their causes. Perhaps I'll pick up some pro-bono work this summer.

 

Crayola Coloring Application

I find great stuff using StumbleUpon. 

Today's find was Crayola's online coloring website, which is so slick.  This site stands out to me because it adds value to the Crayola brand and the consumer experience.  It features Crayola's products, shows how they look when you apply them to paper and is damn fun for all ages.

The Mack and Tosh Show

You can Fan Mack & Tosh on Facebook and watch their videos on YouTube.  Say hello to my totally networked kittens. They have a good agent. ;)

Geek Kittens

Yes, I am getting two kittens, they are being delivered to my apartment this Sunday afternoon by the shelter's foster mother. Eight week old brother and sister tabby cats, so adorable they make your heart melt by just looking at them.

And yes, I am naming them Mac & Tosh. I am expecting that they will be able to turn on my Macbook, browse the internet and send emails for me. Heck, if I became an interent geek... any animal can. (You laugh but it is true. If you told me 5 years ago I would be doing what I am doing today, I would have laughed hysterically saying there is no way that's possible.)

I am going to be a mommy and I can't believe it. Say hello to my new babies Mackie and Toshie. Meow. Purr.    

Navigational Technology

Thank heaven for navigational technology. I am awful at directions, both giving and interpreting them. It doesn't matter if I am in a car, on foot, or riding the subway - when reading directions like head North toward... travel East on ... - I am immediately lost. After moving to NYC, I thought I would never get to new places on time, ever.

But using a combination of the iPhone Map application and Hopstop, I can find my way around New York City quickly and easily. Without these tools, especially Hopstop, I would be lost and helpless all the time. You laugh, but it's true -- do not underestimate the severity of my lack of direction.

1) The iPhone Map application, with myLocation integration, is awesome at finding particular places that are close to where I am. For example: If I need to find the closest Duane Reade pharmacy, I hit the myLocation button to show me approximately where I am, and then I search Duane Reade on my map and pins appear where all the Duane Reade's are that are close to me. I use this a lot when I am out and about running errands.

2) Hopstop is my savior. It gets me from point A to point B in the quickest, easiest, most efficient way possible, every time.  Hopstop was designed for city commuters who walk and take subways, buses and cabs to get to their destinations. If you live in or visit NYC, Long Island, Boston, Chicago, San Fransisco, New Jersey and/or Washington DC, you must check out Hopstop next time you need walking or subway directions. It's so easy to use and has seamless mobile integration. Its Simple: 1. Enter the addresss you are leaving from and the address of your destination, 2. choose whether you want to get there by walking, subway, bus or cab and 3. it will provide  you with detailed directions that you can email or text to yourself. With Hopstop, I never get frustrated when I have to go to a new place. I simply log on to the site and text myself the directions or use their mobile site to be guided step by step to my destination.

 

Breaking News.... Undercurrent Rules!

I would like to say thanks to Steve Hall of Adrants and David Burn of AdPulp for posting about Undercurrent's new website.

And yes, I am very flattered to be mentioned in both of the posts *huge grin from ear to ear*.

I really love our new site, because it truly represents who we are as an agency AND as individuals.  We are not some approved copy or text - we are avid participators of social conversations and consumers of shared information. Heck, if we are collectively tweeting, saving and sharing content on a daily basis, why not put it all in one place!? This is who we are... entirely digital baby.

p.s. Steve, I think  your glasses are pretty rockin' too!

Podcamp NYC

I'm excited to meet in the flesh so many of the people I *know* online.

Podcamp is going to RULE! Are you going?

Basecamp and Dabble

I've been using Basecamp and Dabble since starting at Undercurrent just over six months ago. We use - Basecamp - an online project management tool, in combination with - Dabble - an online customizable database. Both tools together allow us to manage internal milestones and activity, disseminate project updates to remote Agents, and keep up with day-to-day client communication.

I have to admit, I only started using Basecamp and Dabble seriously since January, and since then, it has totally turned me into a believer.

Basecamp takes project organization and accountability to the next level, turns email into collaborative ongoing conversations, reminds users of upcoming and late milestones, and files all messages and documents in a way that it can be easily found.

Dabble has pretty much completely discontinued my need for Excel and Numbers - and that my friends is a beautiful thing. Not to mention I can create charts and graphs from all data entered, and incredibly valuable tool for reporting.

Basecamp has recently added two features that makes me want to cry with joy:

Responding to a message using email. Before, you would have to click on a link in the email with the message, sending you to the  company basecamp site, in order to make a comment on the message. This feature probably saves me 7 hours a week in basecamp work.

Frequently accessed project feature. Hallelujah. I use about 6 different projects daily, so this helps navigate through the other projects with ease. I bet this feature is saves the entire office 20 hours a week of basecamp work, at least.

Yianni and Me!

Yianni Garcia has joined Undercurrent as my partner in crime.
We will be breaking all the rules.
Beware internet.
We're coming.

Tweetstats

I came across Tweetstats from new Twitter follower @hjortur. Tweetstats provide you with some stats that reflect your Twitter usage from day one, the day you sign up for Twitter. (my results)

It aggregates the number of Tweets from when you signed up to present day, and gives you stats on how many tweets you've posted each month, how many tweets each day, at what time of day you tweet the most,  the people that have @'ed you the most and the most common interfaces you use to tweet.  Phew, that's a lot of info!

Seems like I was at my peek Twitter usage in September '07.

On average I tweet the same amount each day, except for on Sunday, I take a Twitter break.

I tweet the most just after lunch.

I am Joec0914 #1 fan ;)

I use  the Twitterrific application the most to post tweets.

Linkedin Invitation Etiquette

I raised a question on Twitter earlier regarding random Linkedin invitation requests from people that you don't really know.  (click here to see responses) It's annoying when I click on the email notification of a new request, only to find a person I don't know, with the generic message:

Julia,
I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.
- xxx (first name of person I don't know)

Don't get me wrong... I like connecting with people I hardly know through the soc. nets.! What better way to start a real relationship, by starting with a virtual one.

But tell me how I know you! Same thing goes with Facebook. If we have no friends in common, tell me how you found me. Even a simple "I was searching and found your blog and clicked through to your fb profile, let's be friends!" Oh, and I can't wait until Twitter builds in a "people you follow that this person also follows" feature, so that I can better understand where my new followers are coming from too.

Go ahead, connect with me, but give me some context so I can know you better!