Top 5 Pop-up Hotels

At ABCey, we’ve heard of everything from Pop-up stores to Pop-up cafes. Now, the latest trend to come upon us is the Pop-up hotel! This new idea utilizes freight containers as convenient portable hotel units. This means you can “build” your hotel in any cool location to cater to your specific clientele. Imagine the events you could host in these container hotels! We’ve compiled a list of the Top 5 leaders in this trend.

1. Sleeping Around: Sleeping Around is a “hotel” composed of 20-foot-long recycled shipping containers. Some containers are bedrooms, complete with high-end bedding, a rain shower, an iPod docking station, and air conditioning. Others are designed for eating meals or enjoying a sauna. Sleeping Around is currently located in Antwerp, but they are considering future locations.

2. Sleepbox Hotel: Earlier in 2013, the first Sleepbox Hotel opened in an old building in Moscow with more than 50 pods that guests can book for overnight stays or just a few hours. Accommodations are admittedly barebones but, unlike at most hostels, travelers are ensured privacy with single and double capsule options.

3. Snoozebox Hotel: Snoozebox, a British company offers a hotel system that can be set up anywhere. Known as the Snoozebox Hotel, the portable lodge hosts 40-400 rooms which can provide supplementary housing during an event, a busy travel season, or a natural disaster. Similar to Sleeping Around, the Snoozebox Hotel can be built in atypical locations for nature-loving travelers who do not want to sleep outdoors. Each Snoozebox room is climate-controlled and offers typical hotel amenities such as flat screen TVs and WiFi.

4. The Deûle Insolite: A French hotel near the Belgian border north of will start taking reservations for a converted shipping container this September. The new shipping container room was designed in partnership with HouseUP, a French company that specializes in transforming the 20-foot-long steel boxes into vacation homes. Some units will even have balconies and kitchenettes.

5. X iang Xiang Xiang Pray House: China exported 3.2 million shipping containers last year — more than any other country in the world. It is only fitting that its newest hotel covers is made up of 35 new shipping containers. The hotel covers 5,000 square meters and has 21 guestrooms in total. The rooms come in two sizes: 15 square meters or 30 square meters and windows are installed on one side of the containers as well as in the roof.

Do you think the freight container hotel concept could take-off in the United States? Do I sense a future Kickstarter campaign? Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter.

Tech Tuesday: Twitter Walls

Social media has clearly become an integral part of any big event. Live social media displays are a great way to energize the crowd, source user generated content, and encourage people to tweet and Instagram away. There are many options these days for displaying your audience’s tweets, and moderating those that may be inappropriate or brand damaging! Check out five great recommendations for Live Tweeting!

1. Wall of Tweets: Wall of Tweets offers many different functionalities – from a basic display of text messages to very interactive involvement of attendees in discussions, Q&As, and video and audio streams. Essentially, if it’s digital –it can be included in your Wall of Tweets experience. Price depends heavily on the type of the event, its duration and expected number of visitors.

2. Visible Tweets: Visible Tweets is a visualization of Twitter messages designed for display in public spaces. It is definitely more about the visual display of the individual Tweets rather than the display of collective Tweets. It’s not for every event but it could be the perfect tool for a specific type of event like an art show. Give Visible Tweets a try on their website.

3. Tweet Wall Pro: Tweet Wall Pro is great because it allows for automatic moderation which ban Tweets containing a list of inappropriate words or swear words and/or one or several users. You also have the option of having a person moderate in real-time with the live moderation feature. Tweet Wall Pro is highly customizable and also provides Tweet analytics.

4. Revisit: Revisit is a real-time visualization of the latest twitter messages around a specific topic. Use it create your own twitter wall at a conference or an ambient display at your company or whatever other idea you come up with.

5. Another Tweet on The Wall: Another Tweet on The Wall also posts Tweets one at a time but puts a nice strong emphasis on the profile of the Tweeter. The background of the wall borrows the image from the poster’s Twitter Profile. This might be an interesting way to encourage live conversations at the event between the attendees.

Have you used a Twitter Wall for your events? At our most recent BlackJet SF Launch Party, we featured a Twitter Feed Wall on a giant LCD screen to display all the tweets with our hashtag #BlackJetSFLaunch. Let us know your favorite tool in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Top 5 Fitness Apps

It’s March and Summer is just around the corner. It’s time to start getting in shape and toning those beach bods. Not that you’ll be anywhere near the beaches here in San Francisco, but you can use this time to get ready for your next tropical vacation. ABCey has compiled a list of our favorite lifestyle apps for you to take advantage of before Summer hits!

1. MyFitnessPal: This is the best app for you to record your daily activity, food consumption and workouts. It’s super easy to use and can be extremely beneficial if used everyday!

2. Sworkit: Hallelujah! We have found a simple, on-the-go type of workout program. Choose from a quick 5 minute workout, to a more difficult 60 minute routine. It has two options: cardio and strength training. From there, you pick which area of the body you’d like to focus on.

3. Fooducate: Scan the barcode of the food you’re purchasing and Fooducate analyzes information found in each product’s nutrition panel and ingredient list. You get to see the stuff manufacturers don’t want you to notice, such as excessive sugar and tricky trans fats.

4. Runtastic: Take your fitness to a new level with Runtastic, the best running and fitness app on Android! Runtastic uses GPS to map your sports and fitness activities, such as: running, jogging, biking, or walking.

5. Bleep Fitness Test: Before you begin your fitness kick, Perform the mutli-stage Bleep Fitness Test to determine your true level of fitness. Use it as a tool to improve yourself. It is designed to push your stamina and endurance to the limit.

Challenge yourself with these apps! Let us know which ones worked best for you in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Top 5 Mobile Dating Apps

What’s the newest trend that is rapidly gaining acceptance? Online dating apps! You heard right- apps, not sites. Research says that more singles are taking their search for love wherever they go, with mobile apps on phones or other devices. The proliferation of dating apps is now taking love to a whole new level, remaking an industry that’s expected to reach $1.2 billion this year. ABCey has compiled a list of mobile apps that make finding a potential love interest simpler and easier than ever!

1. Blendr: Essentially a broader replica of the famed Grindr (which, of course, is also an option and owned by the same company), Blendr is designed to get you and the object of your desire together as quickly as possible. The app displays your potential partners based a little on a short interest survey and a whole lot on who’s currently nearby and willing. You can set how precise your displayed location is, meaning you can get as creepy or aloof as you want.

2. Tinder: Tinder’s user interface is simple and relatively clean compared to the other free dating apps floating around, and there’s a definite emphasis on anonymity, which turns out to be great for both privacy and pride’s sake. You anonymously pick who intrigues you nearby based on their picture, and if the object of your desire reciprocates, you’ll both be alerted. If they decline, you remain blissfully ignorant

3. OKCupid: For the traditionalists among you, OkCupid’s comprehensive app might make you the most comfortable. You’ll get all the perks of the traditional, web-based OkCupid matchups, with the added option of broadcasting your general location and your willingness to… uh… make a new friend. All you have to do is switch on the “Locals” option, and you can send messages to anyone else in the area who has done the same. The best part is that you get to feel less creepy by pretending its not just an app for finding nearby sex buddies but with all of the perks.

4. Let’s Date: This app has unveiled a new feature designed to help match users with others in the hope of finding something compatible. Calling it the Wingman feature, this Science-backed company allows men and women, who are not actively looking to date, the ability to scour through the service’s dating pool and share the dater cards of interesting people with their single friends. This feature is available on its iOS app today.

5. Badoo: Top rated and the world’s largest social network that you probably haven’t yet heard of, Badoo is brilliantly effective at providing one simple and universally compelling service: hooking up members according to their profile pictures and location. “Chat, flirt, socialise and have fun!,” implores the home page, alongside photos of prospective friends.

How do you feel about online dating apps? Are there any we missed? And of course, if you need help planning that big date- you know who to ask! Let us know which ones you’ve tried in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!

Tech Tuesday: AnyMeeting

Many of us have experienced the struggle to communicate with bosses, coworkers and contractors because we’re all not in the same spot at once. We’ve recently come across AnyMeeting here at ABCey, your new best friend for online meetings or conferences and specially tailored for small businesses!

Any Meeting is super easy to use, so even first-timers will be able to find their way around the software. Users can host an unlimited number of webinars with up to 200 users per session, and several options are offered for presenters to engage with their audience. They include status updates, chats, polls and the ability to send links which will pop up your screen. There is no client software to install, which means no last minute scrambling to join the meeting.

AnyMeeting’s complete set of features include:

Holding Small or Large Sized Meetings
Screen Sharing
Playing YouTube Videos
Recording Meetings
Twitter and Facebook Integration
Sending Invites & RSVP’s
Personal Meeting URL
6-Way Video Conferencing
Social Profile Page

Let us know what you think of AnyMeeting and if you plan to give it a try! Leave us a comment below or on Facebook & Twitter.

Top 5 Valentine’s Day Apps

Every year, we spend a whopping $17.6 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day. How lucky for Hallmark! ABCey has compiled a list of the most useful V-Day related apps, whether you’re celebrating or single. We hope you ♥ them!

1. Helpful Romantic: Maybe you’re finding yourself a little unprepared, and maybe this app can (definitely) help you. It has last-minute date ideas and suggestions based on your significant others personality. You can even store highlights of your relationship so you never forget!

2. Valentine’s Day Special: This app is chalk-full of V-Day poems, ways to say I love you, love poems, and even the best love making songs (not so sure about this one).

3. Red Stamp: Skip those lame cards this year and send a personalized e-card to your loved one via e-mail or text! You can even go for the snail-mail route for a small charge.

4. Crowded Room: Single this Valentine’s Day? This app is perfect to help you find a special someone. Check in where you are, and where you’re headed that night, and the app will help you meet people with similar interests! Good thing it works for the other 364 days of the year, too!

5. OpenTable: Haven’t made a reservation yet? Fear not, this app will allow you to see what is still available in their database of over 15,000 restaurants across the US, Canada and UK! Keep using the app and earn dining cheques: good at any OpenTable restaurant.

6. Love Scan: Try this super corny app with your loved one for a love match percentage and a laugh (all based on a fingerprint scan).

Let us know which apps you like best and what your plans are for this Valentine’s Day. Leave us a comment below or find us on Facebook & Twitter.

Startup Monday: drinkwel

At ABCey, we’ve seen parties and celebrations lead to the downfall of many — a hangover downfall that is. Recently, we discovered drinkwel, “the multivitamin for people who drink.” Formulated by two doctors, drinkwel is made primarily from milk thistle, amino acids, superfruits, vitamin B-complex and vitamin C. Its unique combination of ingredients promises to replenish nutrients and help your body process alcohol induced toxins.

drinkwel is designed to be a daily multivitamin, but its website says it is not necessary to take it everyday. You can take one serving of drinkwel before you drink and one before you go to bed and you should feel the benefits. Taking a glance at its product reviews on Amazon, it looks as though when people take drinkwel they do feel significantly better than they normally do after a night of drinking.

As event planners, we would love to recommend this product to our clients! Have you tried drinkwel yet? Let us know about your drinkwel experience in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter.