Thursday, 14 May 2009
Social notworking
Interesting story in the SMH about the limitations of Facebook et. al. Glad to see mainstream commentators and social researchers reporting about a growing need and demand for authenticity, a desire to distinguish between what is real and fake. People want to meet and interact in real life, and establish social contacts that are meaningful.
Thursday, 26 July 2007
Facebook is passe!
Ever heard of a Melbournian getting 8 people together for a game of poker, in no more then 3 hours time, all on the very same day he arrives … in Sydney? Meet Getalife.com.au - a local, Australian owned and run networking site that is taking 'social networking’ from cyberspace into a real-life world.
With all respect to my Facebook buddies, but to all those who ‘request’ to be my friend because you like My Profile I say: let’s not get carried away here. I usually don’t make friends because we once had the same boss, share a Hotmail contact or because, spare me, you “poke” me. Pelease.
If you want to be my friend, come and meet me in real life. Let’s have a chat. Err, down at the local pub I mean. Yours or mine. Or join me on next weekends’ bushwalk around the Inner West Bay!
What is so social about Facebook, or MySpace, or Bebo or Linkedin anyway? Social. Noun: a party of people assembled to promote sociability and communal activity. Adjective: 1. marked by friendly companionship with others; "a social cup of coffee";2. living together or enjoying life in communities or organized groups; "human beings are social animals"; "spent a relaxed social evening". (Source: World Reference. http://www.wordreference.com/definition/social)
The good news, for Australians and visitors, is that there now is a website that lives up to what one may expect from a self proclaimed social site: connecting people to meet for a realcup of coffee. Or for a game of soccer at Centennial Park, or a games night at Chris’ place. Or a poke at mine ;-) Meet: Getalife.com.au – Australia's first ‘activity based’ social networking site.
Getalife.com.au offers easy to use tools for people to connect with each other based around sporting, cultural or recreational activities. The activity might be a one-off, like finding a couple of buddies for a kayaking trip up Brisbane River. Others get together regularly, like reading groups. If members can’t find what they’re looking for, they can create a group or activity of their own and invite others to join. Members can start activity groups or build up contact lists (activity networks) of people who may be interested to share real life activities. Anything goes, from bushwalking to white water weekends to art appreciation or Friday night drinks after work.
In just 2,5 years Getalife has grown, via word of mouth, to 30,000 members who have created more than 7500 activities and 1000 active interest groups. On any given day, Getalife’s calendar now features more than 250 upcoming events.
It is obvious that Getalife.com.au struck a cord in the hearts and minds of singles, couples, travelers, migrants and just ordinary city-slickers who are not attracted to formal social clubs, dating sites, commercial tour operators or experience retailers. Instead, they look for alternative, contemporary and independent ways to connect with people in real life, get involved in a wide range of activities, meet people and perhaps find ‘love and relationship’ on their own terms. Whenever, wherever, whatever.
A number of groups started on Getalife have become very active and creative. Take the “The Sydney Booklovers”, arguably the most active readers club in NSW. The 100 members of the Foodies, Gourmans and Cuisine Junkies invite each other to their favourite local restaurant once a month. The 1000th group to be started on Getalife, by a Canadian who arrived in Sydney just four months ago, has now 80 people helping him find the “restaurant-that-serves-the-best-pizza”. A recently started group, Late Notice, is successfully staging very last minute dinner parties, games nights and lawn bowling events.
It all comes down to authenticity and credibility. Rare and valuable commodities in the age of pokes, cyber kisses and the tons of sleaze and phony member profiles dumped on us. At Getalife, you get personally invited by real members to real events. Not because you fit profile of some marketing campaign or sales prospect, but simply because the organizer of the event enjoys your company.
On Getalife, there is little to do for people just out for some online entertainment. The site wants its users to get out and do stuff. Besides, the subscription rates, albeit low, seem to be doing a good job at keeping the jokers away.
What Youtube.com is for home video, www.last.fm for music, Blogger.com for blogs, MySpace for personal home pages, that is Getalife.com.au for activities and events: people cutting out the middle man to exchange experiences in the real world... on their own terms.
Serial networkers, advertisers and web-publishers drooling at the thought of being at the centre of a worldwide web of contacts, consumers and visitors may like to try (to) getalife!
With all respect to my Facebook buddies, but to all those who ‘request’ to be my friend because you like My Profile I say: let’s not get carried away here. I usually don’t make friends because we once had the same boss, share a Hotmail contact or because, spare me, you “poke” me. Pelease.
If you want to be my friend, come and meet me in real life. Let’s have a chat. Err, down at the local pub I mean. Yours or mine. Or join me on next weekends’ bushwalk around the Inner West Bay!
What is so social about Facebook, or MySpace, or Bebo or Linkedin anyway? Social. Noun: a party of people assembled to promote sociability and communal activity. Adjective: 1. marked by friendly companionship with others; "a social cup of coffee";2. living together or enjoying life in communities or organized groups; "human beings are social animals"; "spent a relaxed social evening". (Source: World Reference. http://www.wordreference.com/definition/social)
The good news, for Australians and visitors, is that there now is a website that lives up to what one may expect from a self proclaimed social site: connecting people to meet for a realcup of coffee. Or for a game of soccer at Centennial Park, or a games night at Chris’ place. Or a poke at mine ;-) Meet: Getalife.com.au – Australia's first ‘activity based’ social networking site.
Getalife.com.au offers easy to use tools for people to connect with each other based around sporting, cultural or recreational activities. The activity might be a one-off, like finding a couple of buddies for a kayaking trip up Brisbane River. Others get together regularly, like reading groups. If members can’t find what they’re looking for, they can create a group or activity of their own and invite others to join. Members can start activity groups or build up contact lists (activity networks) of people who may be interested to share real life activities. Anything goes, from bushwalking to white water weekends to art appreciation or Friday night drinks after work.
In just 2,5 years Getalife has grown, via word of mouth, to 30,000 members who have created more than 7500 activities and 1000 active interest groups. On any given day, Getalife’s calendar now features more than 250 upcoming events.
It is obvious that Getalife.com.au struck a cord in the hearts and minds of singles, couples, travelers, migrants and just ordinary city-slickers who are not attracted to formal social clubs, dating sites, commercial tour operators or experience retailers. Instead, they look for alternative, contemporary and independent ways to connect with people in real life, get involved in a wide range of activities, meet people and perhaps find ‘love and relationship’ on their own terms. Whenever, wherever, whatever.
A number of groups started on Getalife have become very active and creative. Take the “The Sydney Booklovers”, arguably the most active readers club in NSW. The 100 members of the Foodies, Gourmans and Cuisine Junkies invite each other to their favourite local restaurant once a month. The 1000th group to be started on Getalife, by a Canadian who arrived in Sydney just four months ago, has now 80 people helping him find the “restaurant-that-serves-the-best-pizza”. A recently started group, Late Notice, is successfully staging very last minute dinner parties, games nights and lawn bowling events.
It all comes down to authenticity and credibility. Rare and valuable commodities in the age of pokes, cyber kisses and the tons of sleaze and phony member profiles dumped on us. At Getalife, you get personally invited by real members to real events. Not because you fit profile of some marketing campaign or sales prospect, but simply because the organizer of the event enjoys your company.
On Getalife, there is little to do for people just out for some online entertainment. The site wants its users to get out and do stuff. Besides, the subscription rates, albeit low, seem to be doing a good job at keeping the jokers away.
What Youtube.com is for home video, www.last.fm for music, Blogger.com for blogs, MySpace for personal home pages, that is Getalife.com.au for activities and events: people cutting out the middle man to exchange experiences in the real world... on their own terms.
Serial networkers, advertisers and web-publishers drooling at the thought of being at the centre of a worldwide web of contacts, consumers and visitors may like to try (to) getalife!
Wednesday, 20 June 2007
RSS Feeds and My Contact Lists
Today I've added a couple of RSS Feeds on http://www.getalife.com.au/. So now members and site visitors can add Getalife's calender of upcoming events to their newsreaders, blogs or myspace pages. Members can even get an RSS Feed of their own activities - quiet attractive to those who, via detailed blogs and online photo albums, are already leading their lives in the public eye.
A very exciting addition is that all the links in the RSS Feeds have the members' personal site-ref parameter in them. In laymen's terms: everybody who clicks to Getalife from a link in the RSS Feed, and continues to register on the site, gets automatically added to the list of 'My Referrals'.
Am curious to see how many members will actually use these RSS Feeds - I would say quiet a few, once they realize that they are a grest way to earn a free subscription!
Bookmarks
Have also added a bookmark widget in the footer. With all these bookmarking and social media sites popping up like mushrooms, who knows what it will do to popularise the site.
My Friends and My Contact Lists
Very excited about the new My Friends and My Contact lists tools we're working on right now! Peter reckons they'll be online next week. Which means Getalife members can now invite their friends (including people who are not on Geytalife yet) to join of their customised contact lists, e.g. My Tennis Buddies, My Favourite Spunk Rates or My Old Girls.
Online PR and Viral Tool Set
So we're close to having a comprehensive set of online PR tools that Getalife members can use to promote the site, and their own groups and activities, and fast track their social networks:
- RSS Feeds
- Bookmarks
- Finders
- Send to Friend modules (new soon to be installed!)
- siteref-parameters
- ....
Still have to think of a communication plan to tell them about it, and - most of all - get them to use it!
So much to do!
A very exciting addition is that all the links in the RSS Feeds have the members' personal site-ref parameter in them. In laymen's terms: everybody who clicks to Getalife from a link in the RSS Feed, and continues to register on the site, gets automatically added to the list of 'My Referrals'.
Am curious to see how many members will actually use these RSS Feeds - I would say quiet a few, once they realize that they are a grest way to earn a free subscription!
Bookmarks
Have also added a bookmark widget in the footer. With all these bookmarking and social media sites popping up like mushrooms, who knows what it will do to popularise the site.
My Friends and My Contact Lists
Very excited about the new My Friends and My Contact lists tools we're working on right now! Peter reckons they'll be online next week. Which means Getalife members can now invite their friends (including people who are not on Geytalife yet) to join of their customised contact lists, e.g. My Tennis Buddies, My Favourite Spunk Rates or My Old Girls.
Online PR and Viral Tool Set
So we're close to having a comprehensive set of online PR tools that Getalife members can use to promote the site, and their own groups and activities, and fast track their social networks:
- RSS Feeds
- Bookmarks
- Finders
- Send to Friend modules (new soon to be installed!)
- siteref-parameters
- ....
Still have to think of a communication plan to tell them about it, and - most of all - get them to use it!
So much to do!
Monday, 18 June 2007
Cutting out the tour operators and commercial event organisers
Advertisers and publishers with an interest in the entertainment and tourism markets may like to take a closer look at Getalife.com.au - a local, Australian owned and run networking site that is taking the 'social media revolution’ from cyberspace into the real world.
In recent times, the chiefly US owned and operated social media sites have been attracting exponential traffic, prompting media moguls to spend fortunes on the purchase of hot properties like Youtube and Myspace in order to protect their advertising revenues.
Now in Australia, Getalife.com.au is spearheading a new wave of social media sites that will force tourism and entertainment market players to rethink their business and marketing strategies.
Or so says Jelle Marechal, founder of Getalife.com.au: “More than an online or virtual meeting space, the site brings members together for real life experiences.The site offers innovative ways for people to connect with each other based around sporting, cultural or recreational activities – a bit like a combination of a networking site like Friendster with an events listing site. But what makes us stand out is the fact that all our activities and groups are created by the members themselves: a wine-tasting trip, a theatre visit, sailing lessons or just a drink."
Getalife appeals directly to a growing number of Australians that are not attracted to ‘official’ clubs, commercial tour operators or experience retailers, but look for alternative, contemporary and independent ways to expand their social networks and organise their leisure time. Jelle Marechal: “Getalife is just a tool to them, a way to set up their own informal events, groups and tours.”
In just 2,5 years Getalife has grown, via word of mouth, to 29,000 members who have created more than 6500 activities. On any given day, Getalife’s calendar now features more than 200 activities like bushwalking, wine tasting, Russian dance parties, soccer or gallery tours.
A number of Getalife’s groups have become very active and creative. Take the “The Sydney Booklovers”, arguably the most active readers club in NSW. The 100 members of the Foodies, Gourmans and Cuisine Junkies invite each other to their favourite local restaurant once a month. The 1000th group to be started on Getalife, by a Canadian who arrived in Sydney just four months ago, has now 80 people helping him find the “restaurant-that-serves-the-best-pizza”.
Jelle Marechal: “What Youtube.com is for home video, http://www.last.fm/ for music, Blogger.com for blogs, MySpace for personal home pages, that is Getalife.com.au for activities and events: people cutting out the middle man to exchange experiences in the real world... on their own terms.”
“Why would I pay $150 for a seat on a bus tour to the Hunter Valley, when I can just as easily find 3 locals to share a ride,” says Wiebe, recently arrived from Germany. “Via Getalife, I have been on a weekend trip to the Blue Mountains, went snorkeling near Seal Rocks and went on a canoeing weekend on the Kangaroo Valley.”
C2C marketing proposition
With observers predicting a continuing increase of the online advertising spent, Getalife is ready with a unique advertising proposition. Jelle Marechal: “Our ads are integrated throughout Getalife’s content offering, they are an essential part of our user proposition, with the advertiser able to effectively contribute to a positive user experience. We can drill down and position ads for foot gear before eastern suburbs bushwalkers, or car rentals before people who tour wineries in Adelaide or even sun tan lotions for beach volleyball players in Perth. Getalife offers a unique way to link a brand with fun experiences – and advertisers’ best shot at adding a viral, C2C marketing component to the marketing mix.”
Sydney, 18 June 2007
social networks
In recent times, the chiefly US owned and operated social media sites have been attracting exponential traffic, prompting media moguls to spend fortunes on the purchase of hot properties like Youtube and Myspace in order to protect their advertising revenues.
Now in Australia, Getalife.com.au is spearheading a new wave of social media sites that will force tourism and entertainment market players to rethink their business and marketing strategies.
Or so says Jelle Marechal, founder of Getalife.com.au: “More than an online or virtual meeting space, the site brings members together for real life experiences.The site offers innovative ways for people to connect with each other based around sporting, cultural or recreational activities – a bit like a combination of a networking site like Friendster with an events listing site. But what makes us stand out is the fact that all our activities and groups are created by the members themselves: a wine-tasting trip, a theatre visit, sailing lessons or just a drink."
Getalife appeals directly to a growing number of Australians that are not attracted to ‘official’ clubs, commercial tour operators or experience retailers, but look for alternative, contemporary and independent ways to expand their social networks and organise their leisure time. Jelle Marechal: “Getalife is just a tool to them, a way to set up their own informal events, groups and tours.”
In just 2,5 years Getalife has grown, via word of mouth, to 29,000 members who have created more than 6500 activities. On any given day, Getalife’s calendar now features more than 200 activities like bushwalking, wine tasting, Russian dance parties, soccer or gallery tours.
A number of Getalife’s groups have become very active and creative. Take the “The Sydney Booklovers”, arguably the most active readers club in NSW. The 100 members of the Foodies, Gourmans and Cuisine Junkies invite each other to their favourite local restaurant once a month. The 1000th group to be started on Getalife, by a Canadian who arrived in Sydney just four months ago, has now 80 people helping him find the “restaurant-that-serves-the-best-pizza”.
Jelle Marechal: “What Youtube.com is for home video, http://www.last.fm/ for music, Blogger.com for blogs, MySpace for personal home pages, that is Getalife.com.au for activities and events: people cutting out the middle man to exchange experiences in the real world... on their own terms.”
“Why would I pay $150 for a seat on a bus tour to the Hunter Valley, when I can just as easily find 3 locals to share a ride,” says Wiebe, recently arrived from Germany. “Via Getalife, I have been on a weekend trip to the Blue Mountains, went snorkeling near Seal Rocks and went on a canoeing weekend on the Kangaroo Valley.”
C2C marketing proposition
With observers predicting a continuing increase of the online advertising spent, Getalife is ready with a unique advertising proposition. Jelle Marechal: “Our ads are integrated throughout Getalife’s content offering, they are an essential part of our user proposition, with the advertiser able to effectively contribute to a positive user experience. We can drill down and position ads for foot gear before eastern suburbs bushwalkers, or car rentals before people who tour wineries in Adelaide or even sun tan lotions for beach volleyball players in Perth. Getalife offers a unique way to link a brand with fun experiences – and advertisers’ best shot at adding a viral, C2C marketing component to the marketing mix.”
Sydney, 18 June 2007
social networks
Monday, 23 April 2007
New site: socialbasketball.com.au
Just put live three new sites to help us promote some new activity groups on Getalife.com.au:
www.socialbasketball.com.au
www.socialbeachvolleyball.com.au
www.beachvolley.com.au (can't believe this domain name was still available!)
www.socialbasketball.com.au
www.socialbeachvolleyball.com.au
www.beachvolley.com.au (can't believe this domain name was still available!)
First gallery tour an (exhausting) success.
So glad my first gallerytour went so well. I made a few discoveries. A nice one was not art-related: a very good and uncredibly cheap thai diner on Philips Street in Waterloo. From now on, you'll find me there on most nights ;-)
Anyway - all those who were there seem to agree.: this was a great activity. Happy to get good feedback, for instance:
Tambourine Girl
"Fantastic day out, well organised and managed (thanks Jelle), great people, interesting art and terrific lunch spot! "
Soulcreation
"Fantastic day!!! Extremely well organised (thanks jelle : ) Loved the variety and artist talks in particular, and catching up with some great people in the group. Really looking forward to the next one!"
francie1
"Thank you so much for organising this activity. I really enjoyed myself - a good mix of galleries, interesting to talk to some of the artisits and a nice way of meeting people. Obviously a lot of work went into organising this and it was very much appreciated. Will definately recommend friends go on the next tour."
Wiebe
"Thanx a lot Jelle, it was great! looking forward to the next tour, I like the gallery barry keldoulis the best."
Transcendance
"Great variety! Presentations by artists and gallery staff provided much insight. The walking was not a hassel due to the high morale felt by a friendly group. Jelle did a lot to make it easy for everyone. "
Brendan73
"Thanks Jelle, a fun and interesting day with the Gallery owner talks being a real highlight. Brendan"
Red Lady
"Thank for organising this so well, although I only came for the last part of the activity I saw an interesting mix of galleries, especially enjoyed the artist talks in the last gallery."
Fleur
"Jelle, I had a great time on Saturday and really appreciated how much effort and time obviously went into organising this activity. Even though I had to go at 4.30pm because of family stuff, I was pretty tired by then, so congratulations to all who lasted the distance!"
jrb
"Apart from a couple stops that did nothing for me, was a great mind-opener. Something I'd only so-far thought of doing and Jelle made it trivial to experience. Very much appreciated. And apparently alot of the galleries turn-over exhibits quickly so now I know. Awesome."
ChilliGirl
"What a fantastic day! Very well organised. When we got to the last gallery we were exhausted - but it was worth it!"
Juni
"Loved it. It was a bit too many Galleries for me in a day though."
Pika
"An enjoyable and very well organised day. Even though we visited many galleries, the exhibits are quite different and varied... to even eccentric art!"
More info: www.galleryhoppers.com.au
Anyway - all those who were there seem to agree.: this was a great activity. Happy to get good feedback, for instance:
Tambourine Girl
"Fantastic day out, well organised and managed (thanks Jelle), great people, interesting art and terrific lunch spot! "
Soulcreation
"Fantastic day!!! Extremely well organised (thanks jelle : ) Loved the variety and artist talks in particular, and catching up with some great people in the group. Really looking forward to the next one!"
francie1
"Thank you so much for organising this activity. I really enjoyed myself - a good mix of galleries, interesting to talk to some of the artisits and a nice way of meeting people. Obviously a lot of work went into organising this and it was very much appreciated. Will definately recommend friends go on the next tour."
Wiebe
"Thanx a lot Jelle, it was great! looking forward to the next tour, I like the gallery barry keldoulis the best."
Transcendance
"Great variety! Presentations by artists and gallery staff provided much insight. The walking was not a hassel due to the high morale felt by a friendly group. Jelle did a lot to make it easy for everyone. "
Brendan73
"Thanks Jelle, a fun and interesting day with the Gallery owner talks being a real highlight. Brendan"
Red Lady
"Thank for organising this so well, although I only came for the last part of the activity I saw an interesting mix of galleries, especially enjoyed the artist talks in the last gallery."
Fleur
"Jelle, I had a great time on Saturday and really appreciated how much effort and time obviously went into organising this activity. Even though I had to go at 4.30pm because of family stuff, I was pretty tired by then, so congratulations to all who lasted the distance!"
jrb
"Apart from a couple stops that did nothing for me, was a great mind-opener. Something I'd only so-far thought of doing and Jelle made it trivial to experience. Very much appreciated. And apparently alot of the galleries turn-over exhibits quickly so now I know. Awesome."
ChilliGirl
"What a fantastic day! Very well organised. When we got to the last gallery we were exhausted - but it was worth it!"
Juni
"Loved it. It was a bit too many Galleries for me in a day though."
Pika
"An enjoyable and very well organised day. Even though we visited many galleries, the exhibits are quite different and varied... to even eccentric art!"
More info: www.galleryhoppers.com.au
Russian Party - 90+
Wow - am still recovering from Wiebushka's Russian Party . Unbelievable. Great food, fabulous people, devine hostess. We ate and drank all night - limitless. All for a mere $15!
Bring on the next Russian Party!
Bring on the next Russian Party!
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