Startup Spotlight: Snapcastr

Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past & would like to share with friends and followers of ABCey Events!

A growing trend that has been sweeping almost every event blog is the necessity for audience engagement and interaction! Conferences, Festivals, and Sporting events all call for larger scale audiences that must be enticed to attend, excited through out, and anticipating the event return for the coming year. So, the question is, how do we as event planners create this buzz? This Monday, we would like to highlight Snapcastr, a tech-driven company that provides all of these solutions through their social media platform!

THE BUILD UP!

Before we get to the main attraction, we must have a plan of action, and Snapcastr certainly does! Their #Hashtag Campaign supplies companies with clear marketing and event strategies from the very beginning to ensure that promotion is being maximized. In addition, their Social Event Display optimizes on audience connection. These event displays are customizable to create a unique and exclusive feel that can educate and boost audience interaction! By the way, sponsors they did not forget you! These displays have a space for your logos to market your companies and thank you for your support!

WE’VE ARRIVED!

Integrating social media interaction at an event is no longer a question, it’s a MUST. Snapcastr’s Live Social Wall enables guests to feel connected with their live tweets, posts, and shared experiences utilizing the hashtag you created with the #Hashtag Campaign! However, it doesn’t stop there.

Hosting a sporting event anytime soon? The FanPhoto feature creates guest incentive to tweet and promote your event at a chance to be featured on their team’s video board or Jumbotron!

Not sold yet? We have a few more to share! The Leaderboard feature highlights your top fans, top contributors, and/or top influencers! This is a great way to recognize your fans for their dedication or your contributors and influencers for their amazing support!

Have an opinion you want to share? Twitter Polling enables guests to participate in polls concerning your event, which will not only keep them engaged, but it will give you some great insight to their interests and what they’re looking for!

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

One of the best features of this company is the data capabilities that come with it! With all of these social media platforms being utilized, moderation and control is a necessity, and Snapcastr provides it. Interested in knowing your guest’s thoughts? The reporting features enables you to measure fan impact based on conversations. As well, you can monitor the growth of your social media accounts with real time analytics. This capability is a great way to track your success and pinpoint any problematic errors to ensure growth for the upcoming year!

What’s your favorite feature of our Startup Monday featuring Snapcastr? Let us know in the comments below or message us on Facebook or Twitter!

Five Last Minute Halloween Costumes!

In a pinch finding a Halloween costume for tonight’s festivities? Don’t fear ABCey Events is here to help you create the perfect Halloween costume (last minute!)

1. Instagram Post

Grab a poster board, print out the Instagram logo, and your profile photo and voila!

2. Pugsley and Wednesday Addams

Put on some tights and tie your hair in braids as you emulate the woeful Wednesday Adams!

3. Unicorn

Wanna feel a little frilly this Halloween? Why not put on a tutu and become a magical unicorn.

4. Morton Salt Girl

Hear there’s going to be a chance of rain? Don on your favorite yellow dress and a bubbly umbrella and be the Morton Salt girl!

5. Mime

Give your friends the silent treatment tonight with a stripped tee and your best mime moves.

What costume will you be donning this Halloween? Share with us in the comments below, or on Facebook and Twitter!

Start Up Monday: Tint

Do you ever find it tough to keep your audiences alert and engaged at your event? At ABCey Events, we are always on the lookout for new ways to keep our attendees involved and interested. This new San Francisco based company Tint, is the solution we’ve all been searching for! Tint’s mission is to help organizations drive deeper relationships with their customers through social media.

How it Works: Tint helps company’s connect through any page, handle, hashtag, playlist, and/or tagged location from any social network. It also moderates which posts they wish to display in order to generate the best content possible. This software also has the capability to display the message on any website, mobile app, TV display, event wall, or jumbotron!

Why it’s Great For Events: Tint specializes in relationships with customers through social media. When an attendee uses a unique hashtag centered around the event, their tweet or Instagram photo will automatically stream into the event wall/TV screen. This can also be used if your event has a Q&A session! Request that attendees ask questions tagged with your event’s hashtag and use Tint to display a Q&A wall to allow speakers to address the questions. Another option is to use Tint to display pictures and information about your event in a creative and colorful way!

Tint can be used in so many different ways and can really help generate engagement and excitement with your attendees. We can’t wait to see how they grow and develop! Let us know what you think of this social media platform in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: Brightbox

Tech Tuesday highlights some of the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming companies for their innovative ideas and ability to think outside the box!

There’s so much social media activity at events now-a-days. Anywhere you look, someone is posting a picture on Instagram, commenting on Facebook, or retweeting something on Twitter with their smartphone. One major downside to this is how quickly battery life decreases. Unfortunately, it’s not really safe or practical to leave your phone charging by some random outlet. This is why we think Brightbox would be perfect to have at any event.

Brightbox helps eliminate the issue of having to wait by your phone at a charging station. It has 6 built-in secure charging stations so users can leave their phone for a few minutes, or even a few hours. All users have to do is unlock a compartment with the use of their credit card. If the event is sponsored by a vendor, charging is actually free for attendees. So, the credit card simply acts as a key. The great thing about Brightbox is that it charges a flat fee as long as the device is plugged in.

We think this device would be a really great tool to have at any event. It lets users charge their phones without having to be restricted to one part of the venue. What do you think about Brightbox? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: Memory Meld

Tech Tuesday highlights the best and brightest ideas in the tech world. ABCey would like to recognize these up and coming companies for their innovative ideas and ability to think outside the box!

Thanks to mobile technology, almost anyone can act as a photographer using their phone. People can easily post pictures all over Facebook, Instagram, or share in their personal group chats. With so many different platforms, it’s sometimes difficult to capture all of your photos in one spot. Thankfully, a new app called Memory Meld may be able to help!

Memory Meld allows users to capture, preserve, and share their memories safely. All pictures are uploaded directly to a private event page where guests can either upload more photos, or download ones already posted from others.

This is especially great for event organizers so they don’t have to bug everyone individually to send their photos. All the organizer has to do is visit Memory Meld and create a new event. Once an access code is created and shared, users are free to upload whenever they want.

The app works well for weddings, birthday parties, family gatherings, concerts, sporting events, and work outings. Be sure to give Memory Meld a try at your next event! Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter!

10 Interesting Social Media Facts

Social media plays a huge role in our lives, whether we like it or not! To honor our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts, ABCey compiled a list of the most interesting social media fun-facts. Enjoy!

1. Half of all smartphones connect to Facebook every hour of every day!

2. 20% of Google searches every day have never been searched before. Which begs the question: what the heck are you searching??

3. The most optimal photos (ones that get the most likes and repins) on Pinterest are photos of salad.

4. “Earlybird” is the most popular Instagram filter, yet 47% prefer #nofilter.

5. The average LinkedIn user is a male college graduate.

6. Twitter handles more search queries per month than Bing and Yahoo combined!

7. Links about sex are shared 90% more than any other link. (Doesn’t its inclusion on this list say it all?)

8. 53% of people on Twitter recommend products in their tweets, which is important because most people trust recommendations from friends versus the 14% of people who trust advertisers. Social media is more important to business than you’d think!

9. 7% of Americans have never heard of Facebook. We don’t know how this happened.

10. More than 350 million users suffer from Facebook Addiction Syndrome.

Want to channel some social media yourself? Tell us what you think of this article with a comment here or on Facebook & Twitter!

Startup Monday: Instacanvas

Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past that we would like to share with the friends and followers of ABCey Events.

Instagram’s filters and effects can make anyone with a camera look like a talented photographer. And, with the help of Instacanvas, that Instagram of your breakfast could be hanging on the wall of someone’s living room!

Instacanvas is an online service that allows people to buy and sell real-life prints of Instagram pictures. Instagram users can create a profile and choose which photos they want to feature in their gallery. The gallery is then published on the website for consumers to peruse and purchase.

As of now, you can turn an Instagram print into a canvas, framed print, 3D prism, greeting card, or iPhone case! More products are in the works, such as wearable art. Can you imagine people walking around with your art proudly displayed on their phone case?

Instacanvas is a compelling startup because it combines social networking and e-commerce to create a product that benefits both the producer and consumer. The photographer receives around 50% of the profits from the purchase and retains all rights to his or her product. That’s big news for someone who is casually sharing their photos with their Instagram followers!

Do you think your snapshots are gallery worthy? Share your thoughts with us in a comment or on Twitter and Facebook!

TechCrunch Crunchies Coverage: Best Overall Startup of 2012

It’s only one week away until The Crunchies 2012! At ABCey, we’re excited to see what fun surprises the planners will have for the attendees. Of course, we’re also dying to find out is the results! Here are the finalists for the most coveted award of Best Overall Startup of 2012…

1. Fab: See last week’s Crunchies Coverage on Best E-Commerce Application

2. Github: Github has created the perfect niche for itself in the Age of Startups. GitHub is a (virtual) place where friends, co-workers, classmates, and even strangers can share code with each other. The goal is to encourage people (over two million as of right now) to code, build, and create things together. Github offers a multitude of collaborative features on their desktop and mobile applications which is revolutionizing the way individuals and teams can improve on code writing.

3. Instagram: Instagram describes itself as a “fast, beautiful and fun way to share your photos with friends and family.” Instagram allows you to take a picture with your smartphone, choose from one of many fun, interesting filters to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram. You can instantly share your photo on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr so picture-taking becomes a social activity! Everyone is a photographer with Instagram.

4. Palantir: Palantir is smart. Palantir’s creation is a high-powered analysis platform that can scan multiple databases simultaneously primarily geared toward providing a tool for government officials and corporations to tackle complex problems. Essentially for Palantir, “data matters” and their goal, as it seems, is to try to relate to the rest of us why it does matter.
5. Square: Hook your Square up to your iPhone, Android or iPad and instantly you have a tool that allows you to collect cash, credit or debit for your mobile/small mobile business. Square has truly transformed the way individuals and small organizations can do business.

What do you think of these startups? Have they changed the way you and your business operate? Tell us how they have changed your life in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter.