Tech PR

Outsource Your Beta Testing To Prefinery (Invites)

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:48:37 GMT

The beta testing stage can be the cornerstone to the successful development of a new site. And many startups have to conduct and implement beta testing of sites, surveys and analytics internally, which can be an daunting task when you are launching a site. Prefinery lets startups outsource the whole beta invite process, from start to finish. Prefinery is offering 100 TechCrunch readers with beta invites to test the site. You can sign up here. Use the invitation code "TECHCRUNCH" when signing up for the service. Prefinery's ambition is to create a valuable first experience for beta testers and to help startups in collecting and organizing information that will result in a better product. Prefinery will do anything and everything when it comes to the beta testing process. The service will create a splash page for your product, generate an HTML sign-up form with fields and survey questions, create an automatic welcome e-mail/message, take signups into a queue, approve users, and trigger invite e-mail. The service will also generate invite codes and assign quantities.

RSS Management

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:02:26 GMT

Sponsored Links:

Diabetes Diet	Custom Wedding Bands		Green Interior Design
Executive Recruiter Consulting Toronto	Janitorial Services Fredericksburg	Static Electricity Control	Legal Information

** Follow Fwicki on Twitter

TechCrunch50: You Want Advertising? We?ll Give You Advertising

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:08:23 GMT

Despite our best intentions, it looks like the DEMO v. TechCrunch50 war will continue, even with DEMO under new management. In 2007 we launched the first TechCrunch50 event - a place where companies can launch to rabid fans and tech press. These launching companies are the stars of the show, and they don't pay a cent to attend. We thought DEMO's longstanding policy of forcing launching companies to pay a $20,000 fee was ridiculous, and led the conference organizers to make decisions based not on the merits of the startups but simply on who was willing and able to pay. Not only do we let startups launch for free, we give the top one a $50,000 prize. Our conference has grown rapidly - nearly 2,000 people attended TechCrunch50 last year while DEMO languished in San Diego with a paltry few hundred. To be fair, our events were on the exact same dates, so they were hit doubly hard. This year we moved our dates to give them some breathing room. We thought we were done battling DEMO. But today DEMO announced that they're giving away a "massive" prize - $2 million in advertising credits - to the top two startups at the event. The press is eating it up, saying that TechCrunch50 looks paltry in comparison. Of course, there's a catch. The "advertising" is remnant stuff on IDG properties (IDG owns DEMO) and will certainly be priced at rate card. They'll also charge for creative and other expenses. Meaning there is very little actual value. I'm guessing that the amount of advertising actually delivered would be in the tens of thousands of dollars of value, at best. And, of course, every startup launching still needs to pay to launch. But whatever. You want adverting? We'll give you advertising.

The Inevitable Anti-U.S. Backlash Has Started On Kiva

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:31:32 GMT

When we reported on Kiva.org's decision to open up its micro-lending platform to U.S. entrepreneurs, Kiva CEO Premal Shah told us he was concerned about backlash in the community. Shah acknowledged that the decision to open lending to U.S. recipients may draw criticism because it goes against the idea on which Kiva was founded?lending to help development in third world countries where credit options are limited. It looks like Shah's prediction was correct. There is now a lending team on Kiva's community platform titled "Unhappy Kiva Lenders." The members, which total 375 lenders from around the world, are angry that Kiva is extending loans to U.S. entrepreneurs. The team's page states that "including borrowers from the USA has undermined the very core of what made [Kiva] so unique and special; small, impactful contributions to entrepreneurs in impoverished situations in developing countries."

Want The Obama ?Hope? Artwork On Your iPhone? Nope, Says Apple.

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:48:19 GMT

Start Mobile has managed to get 18 separate iPhone applications approved by Apple. So you'll imagine their surprise when one of them was recently rejected. But you may be even more surprised to find out why. Apparently, Apple doesn't like the way one piece of art in the app depicts President Obama. Is it out of line or tasteless? Well, you can determine for yourself, because you've undoubtedly seen the art in question before: It's Shepard Fairey's famous "HOPE" image of Obama that was everywhere during his Presidential campaign. So why on Earth would this be rejected? Well, here's the wording in the rejection:

It contains content that ridicules public figures and is in violation of Section 3.3.12 from the iPhone SDK Agreement which states: "Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple's reasonable judgement may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users."

"Ridicules public figures"? This image is hanging in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian ? yet, Apple apparently finds it inappropriate.

Tweetmeme Wants To Be The King Of Retweets

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:36:22 GMT

One of the most effective ways to amplify your message on Twitter is to get your followers to retweet it to their followers. Retweeting is also becoming a popular way to pass links around Twitter. They are becoming the new currency of the Web because of the power of passed links. One service in particular, Tweetmeme, is cornering the market on retweets by making it easy for blogs and other sites to add a retweet button to every page. You can see one at the bottom of this post. Just click on it, and it will take you to your Twitter account and populate a message with a "RT," the headline, and a short link. Go ahead, do it now. Do it again. Okay, thanks. Lots of sites use Tweetmeme's retweet button, and it drives a lot of its overall traffic. Nick Halstead, the CEO of Fav.or.it (Tweetmeme's parent company) says that the buttons are so widespread right now that they are generating 196 million impressions a week ~~month~~. In other words, that is how many pages load with the buttons every ~~month~~ week, and some portion of those result in actual retweets. Halstead is making some improvements to the retweet buttons. Before each retweet generated by the button would include a promotional "via @tweetmeme." That has now removed to make more room for the actual headline and link. Next week he is going to introduce an image button which can be included in RSS feeds and emails to spread the retweet love even further. And sites will be able to embed a retweet counter to show how many overall retweets they get every week.

How To JailBreak the iPhone 3GS

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:52:24 GMT

Before I go defile myself with burgers and beer I wanted to jailbreak my iPhone 3GS for you all. The process was amazingly simple. Using a Windows netbook - it doesn't work under Windows 7 - I simply installed iTunes and ran purplera1n. It took a second to reboot then it rolled through recovery mode, rebooted, and an app called Freeze appeared. Freeze then installed Cydia and all was right with the world.

Singing A New Tune: The Imeem Music Store.

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:56:32 GMT

Does embattled music streaming site imeem think it can take on iTunes? For the most part, nearly every streaming song on the site has a download button which links to both iTunes and the Amazon MP3 store. But it is quietly testing its own music download store which bypasses iTunes and Amazon and sells MP3s directly. For instance, this is the case with some Sub Pop artists, such as Iron and Wine and The Shins. When you hit the download button on songs for those artists, a window pops up showing the album where that song came from with with the option to download the entire album or any individual song for $0.99. You can then pay imeem directly by credit card or Paypal and download the song to your computer. (Screenshots after the jump).

Authorize.net Goes Down, E-Commerce Vendors Left Hanging

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:49:36 GMT

Talk about a serious outage. Payment gateway service provider Authorize.net has been down and out for several hours, a number of tipsters inform us. That has big implications: since the service is used by tens of thousands of e-commerce vendors to accept credit card and electronic checks payments on their websites (example), it likely means millions are being lost during its downtime. PayPal and Google Checkout are still up and running. It's unclear when the downtime started exactly, but the consensus is somewhere between 5 and 7 hours at this point (11 AM Eastern), with e-commerce vendors desperately looking for ways to contact the company or get any first-hand information about what's going on and when the problems will be resolved. Twitter, meanwhile, is buzzing with the news as the United States wakes up (hashtag #authorizenet). (see updates after the jump)

Coming Soon: Even More TechCrunch in London

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:34:11 GMT

It’s been a nice two weeks in San Francisco, but in about 10 hours I?m headed to SFO?s international terminal again. This time, I?m going to London. I?m traveling as part of a group of bloggers, authors and videographers called ?The Traveling Geeks,? whose mission is simply to go to various cities around the world [...]

Turn Web Content Into A Map With GeoMaker

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:25:06 GMT

At the end of last May, Yahoo released an experimental version of Placemaker, a ?geo-enrichment? platform. What it does is help developers make applications location-aware by identifying places in unstructured and atomic content (think RSS feeds, web pages, news, status updates etc.) and returning geographic metadata for geographic indexing and markup. In layman's terms: it can detect places by scanning content and is capable of putting the aggregate data on a map. While Placemaker does not serve as a geocoder and thus does not perform address recognition on street-level, it is perfectly capable of geo-extracting and indexing documents or atomic units of text, giving third-party developers the means to mark-up and index Web content geographically in a globally-aware, locally-relevant, and language-neutral manner (and Geo Microformats-compatible, too). But the process of parsing the data could sure have been made a lot easier, and if you weren't a developer there wasn't really any use for the tool at all.

Microsoft And Linux Hold Peace Tweets

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:21:23 GMT

Okay, it's not exactly the Camp David Summit that took place in 2000 between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but sometimes the littlest gestures can go a long way. A couple of days ago, upon hearing that Microsoft had officially joined Twitter, the official Linux account sent out a tweet welcoming them. "Welcome to Twitter, @Microsoft!," they said. The tweet sat unanswered for over a day, and it seemed like Microsoft may never answer. But about a few hours ago, they did. "@Linux thanks, nice to be here," they replied.

Video: 50 Cent Confronts Sexman

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:53:22 GMT

I don't recall how the YouTube user Pruane2Forever, aka "Sexman", came on my radar, but I definitely remember a few of his videos from a couple years ago. (Here's a old favorite ? Not Safe For Work.) Basically, it's this kid who does movie and new media reviews that are (or at least used to be) unintentionally hilarious. These days, he apparently has quite the following on YouTube, as he has over 150 videos that range in popularity from tens of thousands of views to over a million. One of his most popular ones was a video from 4 months ago in which he calls out rapper 50 Cent. Sexman wonders how 50 still has "street cred" after doing endorsements for Vitamin Water, makeup and dildos (I'm not kidding). "What else is he gonna do? 50 Cent diapers for your little gangsta?," Sexman wonders at one point. He concludes that 50 Cent is "just a media whore!" Well, 50 Cent has responded. Yesterday, the rapper posted a video alongside Sexman, who apparently flew from Canada to New York to meet up at the rapper's request.

Scenes from a Social Enterprise

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:31:22 GMT

What are Social Media evangelists looking to accomplish? We talk a whole lot about humanizing the corporation, but when we do so, we tend to think in terms of Customer Service and Marketing.? Is that all there is to it? These questions came to mind during a recent dinner hosted by Jeff Dachis, former head of Razorfish [...]

First, Be Flawless

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:01:07 GMT

As you might imagine, we get a lot of resumes here at SHIFT. Lots of really cool people want to work here; we work hard but it’s usually pretty fun. Y’know what’s been interesting? With the rise of Social Media, I’ve noticed subtle changes to the tone and quality of the cover letters that come [...]

What Does That Buy Us?

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:51:48 GMT

?People buy tactics in times of uncertainty. They buy strategy when times are good.? My friend Chris Brogan said that the other day.? It struck me as profound. We?ve seen this in our own business: when the budget axe chops into Marketing, the conversation can quickly move from ?What?s the right thing for us to do, [...]

Cape May, New Jersey: June 2009

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:13:38 GMT

White beaches. Crystal clear, shimmering water. Beautiful, tan people laying on the beaches and the chance of celebrity spottings. No, this is not Cabo or Fiji it's Cape May, NJ and make no mistake these things are not here.

Why you ask was I at "the shore", I asked myself that very same question several times last week. Alas, my husband had a family reunion in New Jersey so we stayed for an extended vacation. With work, saving money and travel schedules we weren't going to be able to do the family trip and our beach vacation this year so we tried to combine the two. It would have been perfect if the weather had cooperated. It was in the low 70's and overcast the two beach days we had. Needless to say, this sun worshiper was very disappointed. But, with the lemon of a vacation we've had, we made pretty good lemonade.

I must admit Cape May is a very pretty little town with a lot of history. If you have time try to take the trolley tour around town - it's around $13 for 45 minutes. It will make walking around town a bit more interesting. There is a booth you can visit in the outside shopping mall area for more information.

The beach is clean and groomed every night. The one thing I found interesting was that you had to buy a beach pass. It's only $10 for three days or $25 for the season but it was a first for me. However, I'm happy to pay it since it goes to maintaining the shore and picking up garbage, etc. Having gone to Galveston last March (before the hurricane), the fee makes a huge difference in how one enjoys a beach. (Tip: Take cash to pay for the pass.)

There are several places to grab a bite around the beach, two that I found that were really good were Blue Moon Pizza and Pete's Pancake House. Both are very affordable and kid friendly. I have to tell, the pizza at Blue Moon was the best pizza I've had in YEARS! On Sunday, in-between thunderstorms, we ducked into a little bar (Martini Beach) off the strip for a quick lunch - more so for Samantha who was about to bless us with "melt-down" time. Luckily, they had fries and chicken fingers, her favorites.

If you venture off the beach, check out the Lobster House. The fish is supposed to be the freshest in town since it's at the main dock fishing boats come into. The key with the Lobster House is that they don't take reservations. So get there early and plan to wait. We weren't able to eat there since eating a toddler allows for a certain window of time. Would love to hear your thoughts if you're able to hit it.

You Scare Me

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:22:51 GMT

Unfortunately I can?t get into specifics, but recently SHIFT has been very lucky on the newbiz front.? We?ve been invited to respond to RFPs that we?d only dreamt about a year ago. And we?ve won a few, against giant & savvy competitors.? All of which still feels unimaginable. Don?t get me wrong ? we?ve been whacked [...]

Evangelism is a Slog

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:42:34 GMT

I am lucky that my circle of friends includes many of the Social Media industry’s most enduring innovators. We meet for coffees, dinners, brainstorms, dealmaking, etc. Inevitably the talk turns to the state of Social Media in general, and its adoption (or lack thereof) within large corporations. At this point in the conversations, opinions start to [...]

Do You Believe in Second Chances?

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:37:01 GMT

Thinking back to, oh, let?s say 1998 ? you probably had?experience using RealPlayer, the media player from RealNetworks.? Maybe it came bundled with your PC.? Maybe you were needed to download it in order to watch a BBC clip online.? Unfortunately, though it has many happy users, the RealPlayer of yesteryear gained a reputation for [...]

Let Me Use It

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:12:54 GMT

This week, our cool clients at Alice.com had their big launch. Alice is probably best described as a cross between Netflix and Target: it’s a subscription shopping service offering great prices and free delivery on non-perishable items like toilet paper, shampoo, etc. Yesterday I spent a fair bit of time flogging for Alice on Twitter. We have [...]

Blogging from Cape May, NJ

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:11:43 GMT

Came across an article today in the New York Times regarding a new travel site called voyage.tv.While it's more high end travel it sounds cool given the multimedia funtionatily behind it - video tours of the locations, etc. Wish we had this when we went to Italy... I haven't checked but I'm doubtful it has Cape May, NJ on it, which is the beach I'm sitting at now.

Social Media: the End of Mediation

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:41:33 GMT

I can’t write about Social Media Marketing today. The inspiring, unstoppable stream of citizen media coming out of Iran is too inspiring and awful. If you have the heart and stomach to watch it, this video of the death of a girl now popularly known as “Neda” — Farsi for the call — will not only haunt you forever, [...]

?Hypermicro? Public Relations

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:55:25 GMT

More and more agencies have figured out that they need to incorporate ?Blogger Relations? into their bag of tricks.? (Whether they are doing a good job is debatable, ok, I know.) But if you?ve learned nothing else from this blog, you know it?s not just about the bloggers.? The seismic shift is about the people.? The [...]

Sydney, Mooloolaba, Cairns, AUS and Fiji in 2 weeks!

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:31:38 GMT

DFW to San Francisco to Sydney, AUS
Sunday, Feb 2008

Day 1: We chose Mongol Global Tour Co. as our travel agency because we wanted to build the trip/cities ourselves. They handled everything from transfers, tour tickets, plane tickets and hotels.

We got on the AA plane in DFW with no problem (booked through Qantas). The airport in San Francisco was backed up so we circled around a few times before landing. We were sitting in the very last row of the plane and I was worried about making the connecting flight to Sydney (layover was supposed to be 1.5 hours). We finally exited the plane and RAN to the international terminal. As we checked in, the Qantas agent told us our luggage probably wouldn't make it on the plane. The flight was already boarding but the agent assured us the luggage would catch up to us in Sydney...famous last words. At this point we were just happy to be on the plane ourselves since it was the last flight out that night.

Sydney

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:31:08 GMT

Sydney, Tuesday (lost a day on the way but will gain it back on the way home)

Day 2: After breakfast on the plane we landed in Sydney. We waited for every bag to come out and no luggage. The line or mob to get through customs was ridiculous! Imagine 400 people from every direction pointing luggage carts towards 1 very small opening. Finally made it to the Qantas desk to make a "claim" for our bags. Qantas guy gave us 200.00 bucks and said the luggage would be sent to us the following day in Mooloolaba...still sounded promising. Our prepaid shuttle driver left us so we paid for another (12.00 each) and away we went.

We checked in at the Ibis Darling Harbour at 12:00PM. The hotel room was small but modern. It was perfect for staying one night. We quickly changed into the one change of clothes we had in our carry-on and went into the city. We decided public transportation was the way to go. You can ride the train, ferry, light rail and bus all day for 16.00 each. We walked to the train station at Town Hall, bought our passes and headed toward the Sydney Opera House. We took the 1 hour walking tour (27.00). I enjoyed hearing about the buildings architecture, design and seeing all of the theaters inside. It was very educational, kind of like a field trip.

Across from the SOH you could see the Harbour Bridge and all of the people doing the Bridge Climb to the top. We walked around Circular Quay (Key) and did some shopping.

The ferry was right there and we hopped on with our passes just to get some pictures of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the water. We were told in the tour that it is meant to be viewed from the water.

We continued walking through The Rocks stopping for a late lunch at Zia Pina pizzeria. It is a very tiny place but good pizza and beer.

We walked up the side of the Harbour Bridge for another photo opportunity of the SOH. We thought the pictures were great without going up the Pylon for 9.00 or doing the Bridge Climb for 169.00.

Coming back we happened along the Australian Hotel where we joined others for a beer outside.

We took the ferry back towards The Ibis and walked around the mall directly across from our hotel before turning in at 8:45pm, exhausted.

Shelley - aka Little Foot

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:30:29 GMT

Hey guys - My girlfriend Shelley (aka Little Foot) has been posting to this blog regarding her trip to Australia. Just wanted you to know I wasn't the lucky one who got to make the trip... She has several more tips she'll be posting. Enjoy!

Sydney to Sunshine Coast

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:28:07 GMT

Sydney to Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba)
Wednesday

Day 3: Woke up and walked across the street to the internet cafe' (10 min for 2.00) because it was cheaper than the hotel. Down the street turning left on Union Street we found a great little breakfast place called Rob's Cafe'. It was perfect and cheaper than our hotel's restaurant.

Our shuttle came right on time and we checked into our Virgin Blue flight to Sunshine Coast. We noticed that the security was non-existent compared to the US. I got out my "1 quart bag" and they just looked at me like I was crazy. We didn't take off our shoes, show our ID or anything. I even accidentally had a huge aerosol can of bug spray in my backpack. Not having luggage made checking in a breeze.

After the quick flight we met the shuttle and checked into the Breakfree Carribean Resort in Mooloolaba. We were in a 2 bedroom/kitchen apartment.

We walked toward the Esplanade' just a couple of blocks up to all of the shops and restaurants along the ocean.

We ate lunch at the Beach Bakery. They had wonderful pastries, quiche and mini desserts. I had a very mini lemon meringue pie, YUM! We also shopped and bought some souvenirs and t-shirts to wear the next day.

After making some phone calls to confirm the shuttle and Qantas in search of our luggage, it was now time for drinks at Hoggs Breath and dinner at Hot Pipis by the ocean. My fish (snapper I think) still had it's head and tail. It was very good and fresh.

Back in the room we finished up what little laundry we had. We noticed there was only 1 "air conditioning box" and it was in the living room. The bedrooms were very, very warm. We put the fan on high, pulled out the couch's hide away bed in the living room and put one of the mattresses on top. We slept there for the night so we would be cool. I would not stay there again because of the lack of air conditioning in the rooms but the location was great!

Brisbane to Cairns, Thursday Day 4

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:27:38 GMT

Brisbane to Cairns
Thursday

Day 4:

Woke up early and found breakfast again at the Beach Bakery. I had a yummy quiche and another mini pie. Then we walked over to Coles grocery store and waited impatiently for it to open at 8AM. We were in desperate need of toothpaste, a hair brush and necessities our luggage would have provided.

As we walked, I kept running into everyone. I finally realized, just like the cars driving on the opposite side of the road, the people pass on the opposite side of each other as well!

We went to the bus stop and waited for the free shuttle to take us to the Australia Zoo, home of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter! (zoo price: 52.00 each).

We got to walk up to the koala's, pet and take pictures of them. The zoo team would take several animals for a walk and we got to pet the wombat (my fav) and a baby alligator. They also took the Tasmanian devil and baby tigers for walks but we couldn't pet them.

We got to walk into the kangaroo exhibit and pet the rooz!

At the Crococeum show we saw the beautiful birds fly all over, they told about the snakes and lastly was the crocodile feeding and demo. They told about the animals in kilograms and meters which was a bit confusing. Besides that, this little zoo was great! Crikey Crocs Rule!

We took the $54.00 cab ride home so we would have time to shop on the Esplanade. We needed to buy some swim trunks and flip flops for snorkeling the next day and still have time to catch the shuttle to the airport to head to Cairns.

As we waited for the shuttle we went next door to Zachary's to have a custom gourmet pizza and some cold beer. It was perfect.

Gary the shuttle driver was right on time. He was great! We learned a lot from him. As we drove he pointed out the kangaroos lounging around in the fields. He said they do get into the road and get hit, as do the koalas. They put up special fences so the koalas can't get into the road.

Gary said we had to make a stop and pick up some people and it just happened to be the Ettamogah Pub. We had passed it to and from the zoo and I really wanted to stop. All 3 drivers said it was known as the most photographed pub in Australia. It is based on a famous Australian cartoon. It looks like it's falling down and even has an old Ford on the top.

We went in and had a beer. I asked to buy a beer koozie and the bartender looked at me strangely and said "stubby holder?" Good times!

Gary said it had been a monsoon for weeks and the waterfall at the Barron Gorge in Cairns should be amazing. I guess the sun was following us.

Cairns Friday, Day 5

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:26:41 GMT

Cairns
Friday

Day 5: Our hotel room at the Bay Village Tropical Retreat was upgraded to an apartment with a kitchen/living room.

It's great! A/C boxes in both rooms, whooo!

We ate the free continental breakfast and got on the shuttle for the Franklin Island Tour right in front of the hotel.

This was a tour of the Great Barrier Reef's inner reef. We got on a boat traveling through the Mulgrave River. There were a lot of mangrove trees and everyone was searching for crocodiles along the banks.

We eventually made it to the ocean and arrived at the island. We were all issued Lycra suits to protect us from sea lice, stingers and the sun. I asked about the deadly Irukandji jellyfish and one of the divers said the suit would protect from that too but none have been seen in the area. shwee!

We snorkeled and played with a star fish and a brightly colored, giant clam that I could have fit into. When we waved our hand in front of the clam it would close up but soon opened up again. We also saw some really cool fish.

Next was the glass bottom boat or semi submarine. From the top deck we saw a big turtle and a huge manta-ray.

Down below we saw another sea turtle and several clams.

For lunch on the beach we had a BBQ and beers. We decided to skip the tour around the island and go snorkeling again. We saw even more cool stuff the second time.

Back on the boat towards the river we finally saw a crocodile along the bank. This was a very fun day.

Back at the hotel we changed and walked several blocks into the city center where the night market was. It was about dusk and the atmosphere was very different from Sydney and Mooloolaba. We both decided we would take a cab back.

As we walked we kept seeing several big black birds and then we both stopped, looked straight up and noticed they were giant fruit bats. They were huge and everywhere, flying into town in search of food.

Speaking of food we found Dominic's pizza place and some much needed water. It was good.

We shopped for souvenirs and t-shirt to wear the next day. (Still no luggage). We found a cab and headed home. I wouldn't have felt safe walking.

Cairns Saturday, Day 6

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:26:08 GMT

Cairns
Saturday

Day 6: After the continental breakfast we boarded the shuttle (in front of our hotel) and headed to Kuranda. We prepaid for the The Ultimate Kuranda Experience which included the transfers, Railway, Skyrail and Tjapukai Cultural Experience (129.00).

First was the Scenic Railway train up the mountain. We saw the beautiful waterfall on the Barron Gorge along the way. There isn't any air conditioning on the train and it gets very, very hot! The windows are all up but unless you are sitting next to them, it doesn't help. The train stopped for a bit on the way up so we could get great shots of the waterfall.

Arriving in the small village of Kuranda we had time to shop and go to the Kuranda Koala Gardens before going back down on the Skyrail.

The Kaola park was amazing. It was 15.00 to get in and for another 15.00 you could hold, pet and take pictures with the koalas. That was a highlight for sure! Luckily for us the printer broke so we just stood there holding the koalas forever. It was great! The nice lady used our camera to take several pictures and that was even better. She told us to come back later and hopefully it would be fixed.

We walked inside the kangaroo area and fed and pet them. One roo had a joey in her pouch and Corey fed her a carrot.

We saw the rest of the park and were walking through the market when the koala lady found us and asked if we wanted to come back for my picture and our prints. I got to hold another koala and it was the best! They were just like real teddy bears.

We shopped a little more, tried a steak pie (yuk) and headed over to the Skyrail. We rode it all the way down, over the river, by the waterfall and stopped in between for more pictures. It was cool!

At the base was The Tjapukai Cultural Experience. They started with an aboriginal performance and told about some history. The actors seemed very disinterested. It was then on to the food demo of what they ate in the wild to cure illness. We got to throw a boomerang and then on to the theater for a half movie half performance. After that it was on to another theater for a 30 min movie.

It was OK but I felt they could have done more with the performances. They should of had misters outside because it was so hot sitting outside the majority of the time. Everything was outside until we went into the theaters. I felt I could have learned all of that on the History channel and saved myself some money. If I had it to do over again I would just stick with the train and Skyrail combo.

Back at the hotel we changed and walked into town to shop and to eat. We chose a very nice seafood restaurant called Ochre. We had the seafood platter and it was very good. After dinner we went shopping in the market. I bought a super cool didgeridoo and of course a boomerang.

Back in the room and almost asleep, the phone rang about 10:30pm. My luggage had finally arrived downstairs. Wwhooooo hair products and clean socks!! Poor Corey still didn't have his luggage. The best advice we didn't take was to pack some of his clothes in my bag and vise-versa just in case we did lose our luggage.

Cairns Sunday, Day 7

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:25:29 GMT

Cairns
Sunday

Day 7: Woke up and opted for the hot breakfast today (8.00 each extra). You can only eat so much fruit, cereal and crescent rolls so this was a nice change.

The shuttle picked us up in from of the hotel and dropped us at the pier. We boarded a large boat called Reef Magic and headed out to the outer reef.

The price (175.00 each I think) included transfers, lunch, and snorkeling equipment. This boat was a bit more touristy than the Franklin Island tour. They had people taking your picture when you boarded and in the water and everywhere. They would sell them to you later for a fee. They charged 6.00 each for the lycra suits to protect from the stingers and sun which we wanted.

The boat dropped us at Marine World, a stationary dock in the middle of the outer reef. You could snorkel around the designated area but for 35.00 more you could have a guided tour and another little boat would take you out further. It looked better so we opted for that too. You could also purchase a 5 min helicopter ride for 65.00 or a 10 min ride for 125. We didn't do it but it did look fun. They also had a semi submersible which was included in our price and fun too.

It was time for lunch and they had a big buffet of fish, fruit, pasta and meats. It was very good.

The extra guided snorkel tour was worth it.

I saw a shark hunting fish in the reef and a giant school of parrot fish. The edge of the reef just dropped off into the black. I kept hearing the theme song from Jaws playing in my head as I looked down. The coral was SO bright and I even saw Nemo swimming in a purple sea anemone. AMAZING!!

Back by the main boat they were feeding the fish and I got my picture taken with Sarah a giant fish as big as me! She was so friendly and let you touch her.

They feed her everyday so she is always around and used to people. They said Wally, an even bigger fish, is usually around but he wasn't there today.

They also took our picture while we were in the water together and of course ALL of these pictures turned out great so 15.00 a picture...you do the math. Bring your wallet! We decided to get the pictures burned to a disk instead of printed and it was 45.00 but well worth it. That included 3 of the pictures of us plus 60 pictures they had taken of the reef, Sarah the fish and the Reef Magic boat.

On the way back we had several beers and decided to walk back instead of ride the bus because it was by the markets in town. We bought some last minuet items like more t-shirts, souvenirs, boomerangs and a giant mask I had my eye on for a few days.

We also bought a nice bottle of Australian wine, some Australian beer for Corey and ordered a pizza to be delivered. Don't forget to pack your travel wine opener!

It was still light out so we walked the whole way back and still felt safe. Back at the hotel, we also made more phone calls to the Qantas people for Corey's luggage and the shuttle people. The travel agent reserved our shuttle for the same time our flight departed so we had to fix that. Always check every departure voucher for every shuttle and the times! We got a packet full of vouchers in Sydney for all of Australia and will be receiving another in Fiji. It includes all tickets to every tour and also transfer vouchers. We also spent some time at the internet cafe in the hotel which was very affordable.

Cairns to Sydney to Nadi, Day 8

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:24:21 GMT

Cairns to Sydney to Nadi, Fiji
Monday

Day 8: Alarm went off at 3:40AM and we were on the shuttle by 4:15AM to the airport. Corey still didn't have any luggage. Finally, we were on the plane towards our connecting flight in Sydney to Nadi, Fiji. This day will be mostly flying and that was just fine for our feet, they are VERY tired! Be prepared for ALL of the walking and bring GREAT shoes and inserts!

I was worried about carrying on my mask and didgeridoo. They were each wrapped in bubble wrap and I put both of them together in plastic bags. I tied shoe strings around each end to hold them together and I had a makeshift handle in the middle. The package was 3.5 ft long. Even though it made it on this flight the flight attendant said it might not make it on the next one. ugh.

This trip has been amazing so far but dealing with the shuttles, airports, luggage, customs and carry ons kind of sucks. But, the fun we are having makes up for it for sure! Some of the older people we had met were doing similar tours but they were smart and are doing it in 30 days instead of 2 weeks. That's the way to go. They were bragging about having days in between to rest. We are young, we can rest on the plane.....right?

Now in Sydney, conveniently Qantas didn't know where Corey's bag was. After finding the new gate, after the Qantas lady conveniently told us the wrong one, we were now on the plane (Air Pacific booked through Qantas).

So far we have been fed on every Qantas flight, even the short 2.25 hour flights. We were starving and surprisingly the food wasn't bad. The best part was all of the free drinks. It almost felt like first class. Corey thought they were trying to get us drunk because after the free wine, they asked if we wanted to try the liquor. Heck yea! I wonder how many free drinks I can have before we get there?

Also, the mask and didgeridoo package made it on this plane with no problem. I am still a little worried about carrying it on all the way home though.

Once in Fiji (a little tipsy) we find the shuttle desk and check in for our 2 hour bus ride to the Warwick Hotel. They even gave us shell necklaces welcoming us to Fiji. Since our hotel was the last stop on the bus I decided to take a nap.

They must have saved the best for last because our hotel was amazing. They greeted us with a cocktail, playing music and led us to the check-in desk. Everyone kept saying "Bula Bula" which meant hello. Our travel agent dropped the ball and we had no vouchers waiting for us for the hotel or our snorkeling tour. I did have the confirmation number and that helped a little. They put us in an upgraded side ocean view room and said they would call the travel agent and get everything straightened out for us. Finally, someone else making phone calls for us for a change. They were great! They said we could order room service since it was so late (9:30PM) but we declined and headed straight for the Hibiscus Nightclub. We were all inclusive (which included beer not liquor) and they said the ladies drank Fiji Gold and the men, Fiji Bitter. It was quite good. We closed the nightclub down and went to bed.

Fiji Tuesday Day 9

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:23:33 GMT

Fiji
Tuesday

Day 9:
After a very yummy breakfast, we quickly put on our swimsuits and made our way to the beach. We had the whole beach to ourselves. We put our stuff under an umbrella, put on sunscreen, and blew up our dollar store float. I laid over the float with my snorkel gear on while Corey towed me around the ocean.

We saw many colorful fish, coral, clams and the brightest blue starfishes. They were everywhere. Little did I know the sunscreen was not working. Next was kayaking. We boated all over and the beach/scenery was beautiful!

Na Amee the waiter was great. He came over and asked us if we wanted some beers. He said he would keep bringing beers every 30 min and he did. He came back w/ some menus and eventually some Bula Burgers. As we relaxed on the beach we could see the sand moving. Little crabs were everywhere and so cute. I kept catching them and had a whole collection trying to escape. Good times!

We moved to the pool's swim-up bar and from there the hot tub. Still the beers kept coming.

Before dinner we went to the front desk to see if they had located our snorkel tour vouchers for tomorrow. They were very helpful and resolved our problems.

We went to change and went to the Italian Restaurant for dinner. Be sure and make reservations. There is a set menu for the all-inclusive people. They don't tell you this. I learned this from other blogs I had read before I left. If you order from the other menu they will charge you a lot. Always ask what's included. Dinner was very good. We were exhausted and afterwards went to bed.

Fiji Wednesday Day 10

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:22:42 GMT

Fiji
Wednesday

Day 10: Little did I know after drinking all day yesterday I would have to get up at 5:45am for a shuttle pick up at 6:45am. Boo. I was hung over, tired, very burned and had to sit on the shuttle for a 1.5 hour ride to Port Denarau. Ugh. I survived the ride, barely, and we boarded a boat to take us to the South Sea Island/Sea Adventure tour.

Boat ride was only 30 min and the island was great. We relaxed, applied large amounts of sunscreen, and got in the water to snorkel. Luckily we didn't have to worry about the stingers in Fiji. We saw tons of fish and a school of parrot fish. They have a parrot-like beak and you could actually hear them chomping on the coral. They didn't mind us following them around. Later, Corey was sitting in the shallow and saw a baby shark swim by.

For lunch, they cooked us a BBQ which was very good. I was feeling a little better by this time and decided a little hair of the dog is what I needed. You just can't pass up the unlimited beer and wine.

After our drinks we jumped in a kayak and went all over. It was fun. The island was beautiful.

I was dreading the 1.5 hour trip back to the hotel. Some people stayed on the little island over night for an extra fee. If I had to do it over again, in the short amount of time we had, I would have saved the 52.00pp round trip shuttle fare and the 99.00pp island/snorkel tour fee and just stayed at the hotel. Don't get me wrong, this was a very fun tour but do this only if you have several days in Fiji. With an amazing hotel like the Warwick, and the all inclusive package, we wished we would have just stayed there. Our same driver was waiting for us and he was nice. We had to make a "pit stop" at another hotel on the way back and he just laughed and didn't have a problem with it.

Finally back at the hotel we changed and went to dinner. We just had the buffet and it was good. They were performing a ceremonial dance out by the ocean and telling a little history about Fiji. Very interesting. I learned the 2 main races on the Fiji islands are Indian and Fijian.

We were exhausted and went back to the room to pass out.

Oh, The Targeting We?ll See

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:32:24 GMT

Several people at SHIFT were eager to show me this advertisement that kept showing up in the sidebar of their Facebook pages. It was the brainchild of Doug Winfield, who until recently was a VP of Digital Strategies at Waggener Edstrom. I don’t know how many other agencies Doug had used this approach with, but I was [...]

Inbound Marketing Explained

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:00:38 GMT

My friends at Hubspot are preparing to publish a book about Inbound Marketing.? I am sure it will be brilliant.? As part of their launch, Hubspot CEO Brian Halligan recently asked me to fill in the blank, ?Inbound Marketing is _____.? Here was my answer: ?Inbound Marketing is findability based on authority based on authenticity based on [...]

Tirekickers & Converts

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:14:42 GMT

When I attend Social Media-oriented conferences, lately I tend to see two types of attendees. They are either Social Media Converts, looking for additional ammunition with which to convince upper management of the need to “go social,” or, the attendees are new to (or skeptical about) Social Media; they’re at the event to get a [...]