Elliott's Thoughts

We Were Promised Jetpacks – It’s Thunder And It’s Lightning

Elliott — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:10:15 +0000

We Were Promised Jetpacks is an indie rock band from Edinburgh, Scotland, comprising Adam Thompson (vocals, guitar), Michael Palmer (guitar), Sean Smith (bass) and Darren Lackie (drums). The band’s debut album, These Four Walls, was released on 15 June 2009 on Fat Cat Records. I recently just came across them while I was digging through last.fm

They are touring next month and will be at SXSW and I would highly suggest getting a chance to watch them live if you have the chance.

Social Media Optimization – Verbs Not Nouns

Elliott — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:18:57 +0000

As you step into the engagement process of social media, try thinking of verbs not nouns. What does this mean? It means not focusing too much on the object or artifact: The new product, the big report, the newest social networking platform or adding in the latest social technology into your website. You’re in the business of creating experiences, so focus on the verbs, the actions. The goal is not a more beautiful social optimized shopping website; it’s a better shopping experience.

Where to Start:

Social conversations and search behaviors of your customers share similar patterns. As consumers engage in a conversation or search for a new product they usually start with a broad search or a general conversation. As they acquire more information through search and discussion they become more specific on what they’re looking for.

The strongest search/social strategies pursue rankings for a combination of phrases/conversations that are likely to attract high volumes of traffic/discussion as well as highly specific long tail phrases or conversations that are lower in overall volume but have a higher probability of converting.

Your first step is identifying these types of phrases and conversations that are relative to your business.

Creating the Experience:

So, you’ve identified the initial phrases and conversations for your business to engage in. You’re next step is identifying these phrases and keywords into subsets that match the consumer’s evolving behavior in search and social.

As you’re segmenting these phrases and conversations into the perspective behavior stage think of what type of experiences these potential customers are looking for.

Tip: just like in science class create a hypothesis for an experience that you want to create for a specific segment. Then see if you can back that hypothesis with data. If not, put the experience on the table and regroup.

I’m short on time today so I’m wrapping this one up. If you want to continue this conversation or have questions on how you can apply this to your organization reach out in the comments below.

Sufjan Stevens – Vesuvius

Elliott — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:46:25 +0000

The Age of Adz (pronounced odds) is Sufjan Stevens’ first full-length collection of original songs since 2005’s civic pop opus Illinois. This new album is probably his most unusual, first, for its lack of conceptual underpinnings, and second, for its preoccupation with Sufjan himself. Vesuvius off of The Age of Adz pulls you in right off the start I suggest plugging in your headphones for this one.

Lemolo

Elliott — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:51:57 +0000

Lemolo followed me on twitter this last week and I noticed they were local to Seattle so I decided to check them out. When I first hit play I was honestly skeptical when a extremely simplistic electronic beat started. In hopes that it would get better I waited to see if it would build but nothing changed except for a melodramatic electronic organ. This continued for 27 seconds into the song and then Meagan Grandal’s voice dropped in and I was hooked. Lemolo is a dream pop group that is worth your time to listen to and personally I can’t wait to hear what they sound like live. So for your Monday blues hit play and let Lemolo give you approximately 10min of escape from your cubical.

Lemolo: The Singles Record by Lemolo

Still Life by Scott Garner

Elliott — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:34:17 +0000

Still Life by Scott Garner takes a creative look on how a new dimension can be added to still life images by making them interactive. On the hardware side is a custom-framed television connected to a rotating mount from Ergomart. Attached to the back of the television is a spatial sensor from Phidgets, makers of fine USB sensors. On the software side is a simple C application to communicate with the sensor and feed the data to a Unity 3D scene. The scene itself consists of a camera tied to the sensor data with all lights and objects parented to it so they rotate in unison.

Rebecca & Fiona – Dance

Elliott — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:21:13 +0000

In May 2010 the girls released their first single – Luminary Ones. As 2010 ended, Luminary Ones had become one of the most played songs on SR P3. In addition to touring the whole of Sweden they followed Robyn as opening act on her European tour. They played for the Swedish king at the Polar Music Prize and proved themselves as one of the biggest pop/dance acts in Sweden.

Donʼt let their beauty and glamorous public life fool you. Rebecca and Fiona are dedicated musicians who spend more time trying to nail loops in the basement of their recording studio than to splash champagne at trendy nightclubs.

Classified – Things Are Looking Up

Elliott — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:26:49 +0000

When I think of Canada I have to admit hip-hop isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. However, hip-hop artist Classified is lyrically gifted and has an ear for loops that just flat out make you feel good. Maybe it’s all the bad weather they get up in Canada that drives his insouciant flows. If you’re ready for a pick-me-up to easy your way out of work and into your weekend this is a record that you need to play.

Mobile Web Apps vs Native Apps

Elliott — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:22:59 +0000

Have you ever wondered what the difference of Mobile Web Applications (the web pages that people can find using a browser on their mobile phone) and Native Applications (the apps that you have to download from and app store) here’s an infographic that will help you understand the differences. The infographic itself is designed not to give a bias if web apps or native apps are better than the other. But few understand the role that each can play in a mobile marketing and advertising strategy.

Native applications are usually over promoted simply because the hype and buzz around “there’s an app for that”. Native applications are expensive to build/maintain, have to be optimized for different mobile devices, are not searchable on the web and you are usually charged a fee to distribute them in an app store. Where mobile applications are less expensive, easier to maintain, can be accessed by any mobile device and doesn’t cost you a thing to distribute.

Even if you look at mobile user behavior mobile web applications dominate search 73%, shopping 63% and entertainment 60% compared to native app usage. So when you’re looking through the comparison of mobile web applications vs native applications below keep in mind that mobile web applications are growing in consumer usage even through they might lack some technological advantages compared to native apps.

Yayoi Kusama Retrospective

Elliott — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:50:55 +0000

Here’s a first look at Yayoi Kusma retrospective that just went live in London. She’s eccentric in her own appearance but you’ll see it all come together when you look at her work.

Touche Amore

Elliott — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:55:12 +0000

The first time I heard this song I was hooked. Touche Amore based out of Los Angeles, CA has a raw sound and lyrics that pic at the fundamental fragments of life. Clayton and Nick drive the songs with pounding guitar riffs and Jeremy pulls it all together with his vocals that will have you habituated craving for more.

If you get the chance to listen to the full album you won’t be disappointed. Some of the songs seem similar but the screaming lyrics change the emotional tones. I’m excited to hear these guy’s next album and I hope they explore out of their comfort zone. They have a sound but I’d love to hear how they can stretch creativity.

Members

Jeremy Bolm – vocals
Clayton Stevens – guitar
Nick Steinhardt – guitar
Tyler Kirby – Bass
Elliot Babin – Drums

Hometown

Los Angeles, CA

Record Label

Deathwish Inc