First-Person Mario Brothers? Yes, please. [Video]
Do we really need any other reason to post this 88 seconds of awesome? I didn’t think so.
What I’m Reading
Shareworthy articles and content syndicated from other sites. These aren’t things I’ve written or necessarily endorse, for the record.
GM extends OnStar smartphone control to 14 more vehicles
Once solely slated for the Chevy Volt, the OnStar MyLink smartphone app has gained considerable ground — last July, GM expanded the iPhone and Android remote domination over your horn, door locks, and real-time data to every 2011 automobile, and now it’s reaching back through time to activate fourteen vehicles from 2010. As you’d expect, that’s mostly a smattering of SUVs and crossovers like the Cadillac Escalade, Buick Enclave, GMC Yukon and Chevy Avalanche, though the Impala will also get the goods, and if you live in the lap of low-end luxury, you may be able to listen to Facebook updates on your 2010 Cadillac DTS or Buick Lucerne. Find the full list of compatible vehicles at our source link.
GM extends OnStar smartphone control to 14 more vehicles originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 
GM | Email this | Comments
Ballet Tyrants Forbid Social Media
I once worked in a large, well-known theater, having been hired to push their geriatric web program forward into social media. The instant there was the slightest bit of push-back (and there wasn’t – there was a giant fit pitched by the great diaper-babies of the arts), the position was unfunded. So, when I found out the New York City Ballet had forbidden social media to its company, it was the single least surprising thing I had ever heard in my life.
A dancer in NYCB’s corps de ballet, Devin Alberda, posted a tweet about the arrest of his boss, Peter Martin, on his private account. That was the last (and no doubt first) straw. How dare a company member tweet a reference to his boss breaking the law and putting people’s lives in danger? Why, it’s unseemly is what it is! (The tweeting, not the law-breaking).
Sponsor
Someone Might Get the Wrong Idea
Among the tweets that have smeared the good name of ballet?
“Thank goodness riding the subway while intoxicated isn’t a misdemeanor offense. #dontfireme”
(This in reference to the dancer’s apparent boozing, contrasted with his boss’s – who drove drunk.)
“Yellowface character in NYCB’s 2010 revival of The Magic Flute the worst thing to happen to the Asian American community since EO 9066.”
(This in reference to an iffy portrayal in an upcoming production.)
If you can’t tell already, Devin is a snarky, funny bitch. GASP! I know! A bitchy funny ballet dancer? A teamster, sure. But ballet dancer? It beggars the imagination.
Apparently.
Ballet is a closed world. (It’s closed to me anyway.) And apparently the NYCB is worried that people like Alberda will open it up.
So, as part of NYCB’s contract negotiation with the American Guild of Musical Artists, the union representing the dancers, the suits are insisting on the right to control (let’s be clear: this means stop) the dancers’ tweets, Facebook posts, blog posts — all electronic free speech.
The Wall Street Journal got a hold of the policy in draft form. Among the restrictions:
- Disclaimer on any social media site
- Ban on disclosing dancer injury or illness
- Ban on posting photos of anything having to do with the ballet
- NYCB can monitor all dancers’ posting and order them to take them down
The Babbits of Ballet
Most of us (maybe only many of us? some of us?) have this fantasy that the arts are run by mad minds — “the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time.”
They are not. They are run by truant officers and accountants, failures and control freaks all, vitiated tools whose only joy seems the power they cultivate over the people who are better at the actual art than they ever were or ever will be.
I swear to G-d, the worst thing to happen to art was The Arts.
If any representative of the New York City Ballet wishes to object to this post, or their characterization in it, they are welcome. To suck it. The only time I’ve ever been “censored” by the brutes that run this site was when Marshall asked me not to use “fuck” in a headline.
And that, dear reader, is how it fucking ought to be.
First ballet photo by Alex Thomas | Lincoln Center photo by Missy S.
Real Rewards Help Gamification Take Flight
Despite some bad examples of gamification, the concept of adding game mechanics to tasks, as I’ve said, has merit when done in a thoughtful way. And that requires offering real-world rewards, said Irving Fain, CEO of New York start-up CrowdTwist.
Fain said the startup, part of TechStars’ first New York class, helps brands and companies track their social media efforts across multiple platforms and build engagement and loyalty through real rewards. He said he’s found budding success by tying game mechanics to things that people care about, not just points and badges.
CrowdTwist recently worked with LiveNation on its website for the upcoming Bamboozle music festival. The company created a feature called BoozleTwist on the Bamboozle website that allowed fans to gain points by doing things on the site and sharing online. For instance, viewing Bamboozle photos earns a user 500 points while “liking” Bamboozle’s status is worth 100 points. Reading the Bamboozle blog is worth 25 points. Users who attend the show can then eventually redeem their rewards, which can include things like signed posters from bands performing at the festival to a dinner with a band. One reward includes having a performer serenade a fan onstage.
Fain said in a month, BoozleTwist added 10,500 members. Engagement went from an average of three page views a week per visitor to 26 page views a week. Visitors now spend about eight minutes and 30 seconds on the site, compared to a little over two minutes before BoozleTwist. The campaign has resulted in 6 million impressions through Facebook and Twitter.
Fain said the key has been Bamboozle working with its artists to offer up valuable and unique rewards. That has given fans the motivation to engage a lot more than without the incentives. He said the power of points and badges is limited to people who are motivated by status. But real rewards can get people engaging because the pay off is tangible.
“Gamification tied to virtual things can’t sustain long-term engagement,” Fain said. “Our platform can activate and magnify an audience. It can encourage people to move outside their regular behavior.”
He said that’s where gamification works best, by bringing about smaller behavior changes on the periphery of a person’s existing actions. If brands are creative about what assets they have to offer users, they can build a lot more engagement and loyalty if they build that into their gamification efforts.
I think CrowdTwist has got a good take on this. There’s a lot of companies adding simple game mechanics to their products and websites. But many times, the features seem mindlessly bolted on and don’t seem to cater to what the the product is. Badges, points and other virtual rewards are great for certain users, but to activate a larger audience, a company needs to offer something real.
Foursquare, a leader in game mechanics, is also realizing this. It recently launched a program with American Express at SXSW that allowed Foursquare users who check-in at dozens of Austin retailers and spend at least $5 to get another $5 credit added to their American Express account. Others are also moving in this direction. Last year, I wrote about how TopGuest is tying location check-ins with real rewards like from existing loyalty programs. CrowdTwist’s take is different in that it can tie a host of online actions to rewards not just check-ins.
Ultimately, I think we’re going to see a lot more of this happen. It doesn’t have to cost brands and companies a lot. It’s more about figuring the right type of reward and the best way to implement it. If done right, real world rewards could help turn gamification from a buzzword into a real tool for companies.
Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):
- Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
- The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
- Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks
