Today, leading social games company, King.com, announced the launch of Miner Speed on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, the first mobile game within King’s new cross-platform approach. In the new mobile app, users will be able to play with friends via Facebook Connect, or offline to hone their skills for tournament gameplay on Facebook or King.com.

Miner Speed for iOS is free and can be downloaded at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/miner-speed/id423520924?mt=8.

To become a part of the King.com community and get a taste of some of the world’s most popular games, please visit www.king.com or http://apps.facebook.com/king_com/.

Apparently, PR execs have the second most stressful job, right behind Commercial Airline Pilots (so much for my recent flying lessons) and right before Senior Corporate Execs.  The reason for the stress in PR is:

Public relations executives are “completely at the mercy of their clients and buyers,” says Tony Lee, noting that their success or failure depends on the actions and decisions of clients, creating a stressful situation because their performance is in many ways out of their hands.

Well, I do agree there are elements that are beyond our control.  For example, today President Obama is at Facebook for a Town Hall event and there are a lot of media in attendance.  If we would have had a client announcement today, it would have been tough to compete with the President for attention.  However, there are many other times when we usher a client announcement to the press and everything goes smoothly and spectacularly.  I guess those are the days that compensate for the stressful days!

 

 

 

 

• Why are TV networks leveraging games to extend their brands to fans?
• How are games enabling TV networks to extend their reach through global social networks like Facebook, Bebo, etc?
• How have online games faired so far for promoting and extending TV show brands and what other industries can/will this trend extend to?
• How have online games for TV shows affected the gaming industry?
• What’s the next development for the online games and TV network partnerships?

Sure, I’m on Facebook and Twitter - they are both indispensible to my social media life.  But there are times when I’d simply like to share photos with a few friends in a single, collaborative place.  Like when I attend a birthday party and there are 10 people taking photos, including me, but I only end up seeing everyone else’s pics after they’ve uploaded them to Facebook or Flickr or Twitter or whereever and I have to track them down like an online treasure hunt.  Well, track no more!  Now I can set up a collaborative album on the fly, invite my friends, and all those great mug shots end up in one live – private – photostream with Cooliris‘ LiveShare 1.2.  Very very cool.  Because there are times when I want to share like a hyperactive ninja.  And there are times when I want to share with an inner circle of real – hyperpersonal – relationships.

Get LiveShare for free on iPhone, Android, or Windows Phone 7, or check it out online at www.liveshare.com.

I’ve been following a Runner’s World plan to run a sub 4 hour marathon for the past 14 weeks, as I made it into the ING New York Marathon via the lottery system (first time I applied – beginner’s luck!).

I’ve been testing out a variety of apps and gadgets to help keep me on track and motivated.

Here is my list of mission critical tools for runner’s who also enjoy technology:

1. Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Watch: I love this thing and can’t live without it.  It keeps track of my distance, laps, time, pace, and more.  I also have the accompaning heart rate monitor, but I don’t use that.  Instead, I rely on my watch to keep track of the stats I care about, and then upload them into my PC after each run so I can see how I’m progressing.  I also use it to input key data into DailyMile (more on that later).
2. Nike Boom: I love the audible motivations (or, what they call “Attaboys”) this iPhone app delivers into my ear.  While it’s geared for atheletes playing football, basketball, or hockey, I enjoy the variety of players and coaches from around the US that tell you things like “This ain’t about being flashy. Aint no second chances up a hill. Aint no do overs either.  You know what time it is?  It’s time to leave nothing!” from DeSean Jackson.
3. Nike+:  Pre-installed on my iPhone 3GS, this app also provides audibles letting you know how far you’ve run.  It’s not as accurate as the Garmin device, but I do like to hear the mile markers in my ear, and also like the countdown at the end, starting at 400 meters to go.  When you’ve reached a major milestone, you’ll also be treated to Lance Armstrong, Paula Radcliffe or other sporting superstars offering you congratulations.  Awesome!
4. DailyMile:  It’s like Facebook for runners.  You can upload your workout data from your Garmin or Nike+, or input it manually.  Then you can see how other runners have fared and leave comments and motivations.  I have a small group of peeps I’ve been following and have derived inspiration – some are running the NYC Marathon as well, so maybe I’ll even meet them in person.
5. Facebook:  Using DailyMile to populate my status update on Facebook (and Twitter), I’ve had my spirits lifted and my confidence bouyed by friends who have seen my log come through the airwaves.  I’ve even had my cousin Sheila’s second grade class give me some good vibes through a Get Well Dance during recess.  Now that’s some serious motivation!
6. Twitter:  As mentioned above, when my DailyMile stats are Tweeted, I often get feedback from some of my Twitter friends giving me kudos or advise. I’m also now keeping track of the conversations about the marathon by watching the official hashtag #ingnycm

Now if there were only an app that would heal my cranky ITB, I’d be in business…

Last night we went to the opening of Brick & Bottle in Corte Madera. The restaurant employed various means to let the public know when their doors would open, including old school measures like hanging a banner outside of the premises with a countdown to the opening day, as well as new school tactics like a Facebook fan page, Twitter account from the owner/chef @chefscotthoward and email blasts from lifestyle/fashion mavens such as Thrillist.  The restaurant was completely packed, with a constant stream of locals, VIPs and foodies curious to see, taste and explore the new Marin hot spot.

In addition to social media controlled by the restaurant, they’ve also benefitted by the public voice, courtesy of services such as DeHood, Yelp, Foursquare, and others.

It was also gratifying to see the chef personally meet and greet customers while keeping an eye over the open kitchen.  While technology-enabled social media tools are helping businesses take control of their brand on connected devices, it’s important to deliver on the “last mile” which is extending the care and attention allocated on your online social media to simply being social… in person.

Here are 12 reasons compiled by MyVenturePad to use social media:

Twelve reasons to use social media to help grow your business:

1. Own your brand’s social presence: If you don’t create official channels online, it’s only a matter of time before your fans do it for you and create their own profiles and communities around your brand. It’s important to claim your brand name across all the major social media platforms. Here are two sites that will help you do this:

• KnowEm: KnowEm has the highest number of sites (over 350) available for checking username availability. Simply by entering your desired username, you’ll be able to find out instantly if it’s still available. KnowEm also offers paid plans, from just signing up and registering you at 150 sites, to a full-featured plan which also fills in all profile details, complete with pictures, at 100 to 300 different networking sites.

• namechk: Covering 72 major social networking sites, namechk is simple, fast, and easy to use. If your desired username or vanity URL is still available, you simply click through each one to claim it. If your brand isn’t consistent across the Web, namechk can help you by determining which usernames are still available on a number of the most popular sites.

2. Look like you “get it”: Your target audience is becoming more shrewd about leveraging social media sites as an integral part of their daily lives. If you want to appear relevant and in-step with the latest advances in technology, your potential customers will want to see you on these sites as well. If you don’t have a presence, you appear as if you’re not very savvy.

3. Brand recognition: You need to go where your customers are, and they are increasingly spending a great deal of time on social networking sites. Using social media enables your company to reach a huge number of potential customers. Getting your name out there is incredibly important — studies suggest that people need to hear a company’s name at least seven times before they trust and respect it enough to become a customer.

4. Take your message directly to consumers: Social media tools enable you to directly engage consumers in conversation. Be sure to build trust by adding value to the community consistently over time.

5. Increase your search engine rankings: Social media profiles (especially those on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn) frequently rank highly with major search engines. Creating keyword-rich profiles around your brand name can help generate traffic for your both your social-networking sites and your company’s Web site.

6. SEO benefits: Many social media bookmarking sites use NOFOLLOW tags that limit the outbound link value of posts made on their sites, but there are still many leading sites that allow DOFOLLOW tags — including Friendfeed, Digg, and Mixx. You can also benefit from posting to bookmarking sites that use NOFOLLOW tags if people read your posts and link back to your Web site.

7. Social media content is now integrated with search results: Search engines like Google and Bing are increasingly indexing and ranking posts and other information from social networks. Videos from popular sites like YouTube can also be optimized for indexing by the major search engines.

8. Brand monitoring: Having a social media presence gives you a better understanding of what current and potential customers are saying about your products and services. If you actively monitor social conversations, you have the opportunity to correct false or inaccurate information about your brand and address negative comments before they take on a life of their own.

9. Generate site traffic: You can create additional traffic if you regularly post updates on social networks that link back to your Web site. Social media bookmarking tools like Digg, Reddit, and Stumbleupon can also generate additional traffic to your site if you create frequent articles and blog posts.

10. Find new customers through your friends: You shouldn’t neglect your personal social media accounts as potential avenues to promote the activities of your business. Posting regular updates relating to your business and activities can remind your friends about what your company does and influence them to use your services or make referrals.

11. Find new customers through your company profile: Your company profile is a great opportunity for you to post regular updates on your activities and about important news and trends in your industry. This will attract the attention of new customers interested in your industry and increase your reputation as an expert in your field. It’s important to post regularly if you want to increase your followers or fans and convert them to potential leads.

12. Niche marketing: Social media enables you to reach very specific subsets of people based on their personal preferences and interests. You can create unique social media profiles to target these audiences or create strategies based on addressing individual interests.