Skwikee.com Converts Citizen Journalists into Citizen Game Developers

About this time last year YouTube opened up a channel for Citizen Journalists to fill the news gap by reporting from ground zero.  This month Yahoo and various publications such as Forbes announced their citizen journalist projects.  In fact, the December issue of Forbes is reported to be compiled of crowdsourced content from citizen journalists.  Good for you Forbes, just notched up a couple more on my respect meter.

This got me to thinking about Skwikee, my social reality game.  In the name of social experimentation, I believe it’s really all about what’s relevant and top of the mind with people.  Truth be told, we really do not have time to process much more than that.  Just needs to be easy and connecting today’s news to one’s entertainment value,  not a giant leap for most.

So, I think I’m going to coach Skwikee producers to grab onto the concept of thinking more like citizen journalists.  Why?  Because entertainment and news have one thing in common:  The Story.     Yep.  Gonna see if these Angelinos will frame it that way, make the gaming element match what’s going on in the media, build that element into the game.  As for the advertisers, not a far stretch for them to tie their message in there too; after all they’ve been doing it with print, TV and radio for years.  This should be interesting.

KISS Principle: "Keep It Simple and Sexy"

Working like a mad woman on the new Skwikee gaming interface.  So many ways to build a website, tools to add, buttons to push, every effing widget one could ever imagine.  I decided to take a step back and look at the three heroes of the web:  Google, Facebook and Twitter.  See what they did to become rock stars.   Follow me here, I'm about to be brilliant.

Google: 

Was it the first search engine?  No.  When you type in google.com what comes up?  A million ads?  Bunch of user tools that scream, "Look at what hard working bitches we've been!" No.  In fact, Google does such a good job at keeping it simple, you don't even see the calender and gmail options till AFTER you've been presented by...ready for it:  a simple search box.  Think Google could have a few more tools on this page?  I mean they only own Blogger, YouTube, need I go on?  Nope.  It's all about the search and that my friends, is why they are King, getting something like 200+ million searches per day.  Simplicity is what makes them hot, knowing how to keep their King status is what makes them sexy. 

Facebook:

Now, I'm all about hot nerds (even married one), but knowing how to build a social media site is not what made Mark Zuckerburg, THE Man.  Think about the grip MySpace had years before Facebook became the bomb.  By the way, Mark is founder of Facebook in case you've been living in a coconut.  My point is MySpace gobbed up the entire user interface with a million options and Facebook made the news feed the front and center star.  Why is it the star?  Ummm, cuz it's your friends yapping (silly).  Who doesn't want to be in the know within their peep network? Yep.  All the other applications adorned the sides of the page but the Facebook news feed was and still is the prime focus.  Now that's art and it's hot.

Twitter:

I hope you're seeing where I'm going by now.  If not, then maybe you should go back to that island and your coconut hut.  It's all about keeping it simple and that's what is soooo freaking sexy.  And I don't mean that in a unflattering, dirty way (perve).  I mean "sexy" as what the true meaning of word:  Appeal.  Twitter is all about a simple news stream.  Kinda like the power of the little black dress.  And just like the little black dress, gob up with a bunch of unnecessary accessories and hype, you just became a bar fly.  Twitter even forces us to have a little self control, cuts your ass off at 140 characters.  Ever hear of people losing their mystery by talking too much?  Nope. Twitter makes you keep it short - simple and that...is uber sexy.

And now, I'll need to reward my genius with a cocktail.  All this sexy talk makes me think a cosmo's in order.  Hope this helps any of you trying to build out there.  If not, well here's the pictorial version (not that sexy but still informative).  Thoughts?

Can the Skwikee gaming platform be used for other industries/locations?

In response to flurry of emails from last two days, the answer is:  Yes.  It is a platform that allows an organization to turn their marketing/educational/training “video” based message into an interactive game.  The technology behind it is called ANGELO and it ties directly into most social media sites that allow API access.

We are premiering the technology as a fun, LA Lifestyle social game made up of crowdsourced content called Skwikee.  However, after further discussions between myself and the programmers, we’ve come to the conclusion that it can easily be used as an interactive vehicle for delivering a message to a target audience.  The gaming elements are customizable and managed by the client, so even the game can change as often as needed.  Here is how we envision using the ANGELO technology within other arenas:

Marketing/Advertising
It was designed to be a communication piece for advertisers to give crowdsourcing creative license for their advertising messages; however, the authorization process is managed by the Advertiser.  In other words, the social community can read the project description, create their video interpretation of the message, upload it and add all the gaming elements, but the Advertiser can control when/if it goes live.

Internal Communications:
Because it keeps score of the player’s activities, it can be used internally to test employee knowledge as a fun and interactive experience, designed by the employer. 

Most of the functionality is non-industry specific; however, some custom work may need to be tailored to fit specific objectives.    We’re very excited about the launching of Skwikee in January of 2011 and are working hard towards that objective.  However,  if you have further questions please contact me at Patty@DartMarketing.com  and I will make sure someone from the ANGELO production team gets back to you as soon as they can.  Thank you for all your inquires about ways to use this new technology.  We're super stoked to see so many people grabbing hold of this new social media concept.   As always, please feel free to comment - Peace

Q: Where's social media going for advertisers? A: Social Reality Gaming

Working on Skwikee, my social reality game, designed to enhance product integration into a reality based gaming platform.  What can I say?  At the end of the day, I'm a marketing chick.  So, I’m starting with what I know: Women.  I’m also starting close to home: LA.  

So to sum up my research so far:

• We love to play and don’t mind brands creeping into our game time.
• We love gifting virtual goods, willing to spend real money on it.
• Don’t call us Gamers, we're not.
• We love to share our greatness with friends.
• We're educated and have money...lots of money.
• At the end of the day, we want to still believe in the fairytale. 
• Sometimes, we just need a break from the crazy, so we play social games.
• We like the little cartoon icons in social games, but we LOVE reality TV more. 

So here’s a peek at the prototype of how I think advertisers will need to model their next social media move:  Skwikee. 

Business: So you have social network friends and followers, now what?

It’s no secret the social networking frenzy is touching every industry on the planet.  Companies are striving to get their social pages up and networks built.  Books, conversations and blogs all showcasing how to master the art of getting noticed.

For me, the social networking free-for-all model felt like the gold rush.   All these people and companies gathering up their brands and years of PR, throwing it in the back of a wagon marked "Facebook or Bust."  The whole building a relationship with the consumer concept makes perfect sense, but at what point can we predict return?  What are these people in their covered wagons going to do once they get to the gold country of friendship land?  More importantly, what the hell are they doing with all those friends?  It’s like sitting on a pile of gold with no freaking idea what to do with it.  That prompted me to step down from the cloud and question the tactics.

To be clear, let’s agree that a marketing message within social networking environments is kinda like funky odor.  Nobody wants to deal with it and we all try to get away from it as fast and gracefully as we can.   If I was about to test my theories about monetizing a marketing message within the social networks, I needed to approach it from a different perspective.  I call it the Villa Blanca experience.

Six months ago I moved to west LA and decided to go spend a day putzing around Beverly Hills.  While walking down Brighton Way I came across the glorious outdoor dining area of the Villa Blanca restaurant.   The vision was right out of a movie.  Beautiful chic people all enjoying their LA lifestyles.  I was certain that getting a table there was going to be close to impossible.  Not so.  I was invited to have a business lunch there with a client, one week later.  Food was great, amazing ambiance but the novelty of it was gone; that is, until it was featured on the Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Lisa Vanderpump, the owner of the Villa Blanca stars in the show and many scenes are shot from within the restaurant.  I was once again fascinated, but for an entirely different reason.  The restaurant might have glam and fame, but we all know how quickly the novelty of that lasts.  Lisa, however,  had became somewhat a bit of an inspiration to me.  She has a son my son’s age, a zest for life and a mad love affair with her dog Giggie.  I think she’s a total rock star and so the five minute fascination I had once had with the Villa Blanca, just turned into a personal connection.  I’ll now go there any chance I get.

So coming back to my social experimentation.  I realized that the glam and celebrity value hooked me, but what keeps me as a loyal patron of the Villa Blanca is my adoration for Lisa.  How did that happen?  Simple:  the reality show portrayed her as her genuine and human self. I freaking signed up, bought the tee-shirt and a lifetime subscription to the Vanderpumps.  Made me think, “huh, maybe all social marketing should work this way.” 

So I did the most natural thing in the world, asked my husband for money and for him to build a website for me (it pays to marry a nerd girls).  But this wasn’t just any website, nooo, this was going to be a place where the “hook” was Hollywood, but the keep was in the people.  I wanted the interaction with the brands, businesses and the story to be fun, but above all REAL.  I call the site Skwikee and it’s the premier social reality game, featuring the people of LA. 

We’ll cover the hot clothing stores, restaurants and night clubs, but more importantly, we’ll connect with the people that make LA so magical.  My theory is players will be hooked by the Hollywood glam, but want to stay connected to the people here and in effect their products and businesses.  If it works, I dare say I'll become the Madam of Social Reality Advertising. Skwikee premiers in January of 2011, wish me results and above all, answers!

Feel free to share your thoughts here or on the Skwikee Facebook page!

Will US make it illegal to sell 2nd hand brand names on Ebay?

The S. 3804, the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act.  was created in good faith by some of our most trusted entertainment industry leaders such as Disney, the Motion Picture Association, NBC and Sony.  Understandably so, it a proposal for the Attorney General to legally combat the practice of using Internet as a platform for sales and distribution of copyrighted work.  The basic objective is to allow the Attorney General to seize and desist domains “enabling or facilitating” unauthorized distribution of protected material.  While recognizing it to be a valuable objective, the resistance this bill is receiving by organizations such as the EFF, is due to the broad nature of the wording and enormous amount of ricochet effect it could have, should it become a law.


Looking back at the history of sites like Ebay and Craigslist, the argument could be made that selling trade brand and copyright protected material in these websites, should grounds for action.  In fact, in the section labeled 512(k)(1) of title 17, a service provider can also be defined as any other operators of the domain name’s system server.  This wording could implicate a string of indirect parties, including but not limited to blog writers and other third parties associated with the copyrighted material.  A bigger concern is that the bill also calls for the Attorney General to keep a list of  alleged third party proponents “it believes” to be associated with the copyrighted work.  This could implicate credit card companies, a string of hosting providers and well, if we want to take it to the extreme, maybe even UPS and the US postal service.   How else is the merchandise supposed to get there?


All of this compiled with the fact the bill is only enforceable in the US, just leads to the conclusion: The bill needs some work.  Call it lack of technical understanding of the implications of tampering with DNS servers; or perhaps it’s vague wording that needs more defined objectives.  It’s just too broad and maybe a little to sophisticated for traditional governmental laws?


Proposed Solution:
Not to criticize without offering suggestions, I would propose the advocates and opponents of this bill to take a step back and recognize that we’re no longer a world that can be governed by traditional governmental or geographical boundaries.  Specifically in this matter, the entertainment industry, brand labels and all people running the technical vehicles that come in contact with these copyrighted materials, are very much their own culture.  It’s the culture of the Cloud.  The Cloud has its own rules, residents and language.   Why not involve the vehicles that are currently responsible for marketing and promoting copyrighted material legitimately; and then create new global governing standards only applicable in the Cloud? After all without the creators of the copyrighted content and vehicles such as Google and iTunes that deliver it, there is no Cloud culture.   In my opinion, traditional government and legislature, based on geographic parameters, is not designed to manage this level of sophisticated objectives. Thoughts?