Constant Innovation
July 18, 2008
jamblr is a big project. What we are trying to do is by no means a small feat. The majority is in the design and development of the site and that is not something that I contribute to the team. I look at myself as an idea guy with a pretty good Social Media background.
With this, I sometimes get over anxious and look for things that can be done today. There is no employee manual for jamblr. There is no template for success. In the day-to-day operations there is nothing on the project grid for me, but there is.
I need people talking about jamblr in some capacity. Whether its investors, blog viewers, the kids who find the silly video on YouTube or anyone else that comes across this platform.
Well, I am happy to announce an announcement that I cannot make. Wow, that was true marketing and PR hype. All I can say is that there is a device that is causing crazy hype worldwide and I want to take advantage of it and its new platform.
Well, I got approval and now we are going at it. Hopefully next week I can make a real announcement and truly show the talent that the 5 of us have in making something when there wasn’t supposed to be something.
The biggest advice I can give from being in a start-up is to constantly be innovative. Take advantage of situations. Look for clues on Google Trends. Look for holes in existing systems and look for scald down versions of your own project.
The key to winning this internet thing is really to get something out and see if people bite and the site sticks. Well, now we are ready to throw something out and I am here to make sure it sticks.
Looking forward to next week!
Creating Fireworks
July 2, 2008
Yes, somehow it is that time of year already! The 4th of July is upon us, and at jamblr we all have separate plans to go about celebrating, but there is one constant theme, surrounding ourselves with the people we care about.
In preparation for the holiday weekend, here is an unofficial list of the top places to witness the lights, sounds and action of the 4th of July.
Orlando - It’s not all Mickie and Minnie, but they know how to party as well!
Washington D.C. - What better place to see the lights than our nation’s capital!
Lake Tahoe - Can you imagine watching those flashing lights from the calming waters of Lake Tahoe.
New Orleans - Get into the spirit of the city that never died. The lights bring hope to a city that still needs our support.
Philly - Rumor has it that this celebration lasts the whole week. Plus concerts from John Legend and Boys II Men.
San Francisco - Tech kids watching fireworks. How incredibly geeky!
Wherever you are, be sure to snap away and capture the scenery and the memories. Here’s to a great 4th from the entire jamblr crew.
Best Ways To Build Community
June 19, 2008
Slapping something up and hoping people will stop by is something of the movies, well one movie to be exact, ‘Field Of Dreams.’ In today’s overcrowded everything, everyone wants to start a community or be a part of a community.
In fact, right now I am helping to build a local community of Interactive Marketers, Techs, PR professionals, designers and other creatives in Central Florida. Last night we had a focus group to see if what we were up to was something that we could build a community upon. I won’t deliver the details, but I will say that Doterati is in the right direction. With that said here are some thoughts on community:
- The best way to build a community is to invite someone new in and let them touch, feel and interact with the regulars.
- Do not exclude anyone.
- Students are just are prone to great ideas as the CEO or the janitor or the intern or the powerful consultant. This holds especially true in the online world.
- Beginners are tomorrow’s leaders. Treat them as such.
- An old and established dog can still learn new tricks. Reaching them is another story.
- Don’t be afraid of the big guys. Go after individuals from the big guys and you will start to see the human side of corporations.
- Sitting in a room and discussing brings out the best (and worst) in people. It also makes things happen.
I think point number 1 is the ultimate act of building a strong community. You can never have enough members and the next person you reach out to can be the difference maker in your community’s future.
Till next time, I hope you sign-up to be a part of this jamblr thing and movement over at jamblr.com. Please answer our market research question in defining your “it.” That would be swell.
Follow me on Twitter!
Utilizing Internal Creativity
June 11, 2008
The last few days in the jamblr household have been stressful. We have all placed important roles on each other and strict deadlines are approaching quickly. Being in a start-up with low, to no, funding usually means that their are outside distractions, whether it be work, school, other projects, what have you.
The great thing about creating a site like this, is that is gives us the chance to grow as individuals. It also gives us an opportunity to use our creativity to make a creative product. The openness and newness of jamblr is something that everyone involved has had to deal with on their own. Some parties are new to internet technologies. Others are learning the business side on the fly. Funding is a different story all together.
As each day ends working on this monster, I think I continue to learn, not only about the site’s structure and capabilities, but about the people involved with the site. That is what drives me to be vocal at all the meetings, what keeps me passing out flyers, working on focus groups and gaging interests. It is also what keeps creative minds working. If I was the only one talking, I can never learn. But when my idea turns the ants in Justin or Logan’s head, then my idea evolves and the site gets better, the business plan gets sharper, the technology gets faster.
This type of creative collaboration is why I jambl. It is also why I hope you find the site to be interesting in the event that you are still alive when it goes live (that was a joke kids). Here’s to jambling, the new thinking of creative minds!
My Web Tool Kit
June 4, 2008
I am online 80% of the time I am awake. If you add the fact that I have AIM on my cell phone that runs on auto-pilot, I guess in some form I never leave the online world. To manuever through all the posts, feeds, emails, social networks and everything else, there are some things that get me through my days, keep everything organized and help me make sure I am not overbooked, which I still usually am.
So, without too much more mushy background, here at the web apps that make my life easier/more cluttered/more efficient:
Flock - The Mozilla based browser keeps my surfing and Social Networking in supreme visibility. With the addition of Pownce and Digg in the latest update I am now streaming and keeping up with Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, YouTube, Pownce and Digg. I can honestly say that I don’t take full advantage of their platform, but enough to choose it over Firefox all day, everyday.
Twhirl - Even with Flock, I needed a more powerful Twitter app. With Twhirl I can easily follow conversations and perform easy actions such as @, favorite, direct message and re-tweet, plus have all my replies and DM’s in a nice little app that runs on Adobe Air.
The Google Suite - GMail, GCal, Gtalk and Google Reader. No explanation needed.
Remember the Milk - The best tasking site I have ever used. I was using BackpackIt, but the limitations suck. Plus RTM plugs right into my Google Calendar.
Blip TV - Not my favorite Video Service, but the most that is the most functional. I love Viddler, but with Blip I can get my Music Videos cross posted and aggregated within Twitter, Myspace bulletins and Blog posts and on Facebook. Plus the player can be resized to fit any sidebar, a super effective feature that has really won me over.
That rounds up my Web Apps. What are you using that might be better than the tools up on my list? FriendFeed? Thunderbird? I’d love to know why I should switch!
-Greg Rollett
My Day at Digital Photography School
May 29, 2008
I would consider myself a professional blogger, aside from the fact that the income I receive from it is less than stellar. However, one of my favorite places to get blogging tips, news and ideas on how to grow and expand my audience is with Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger site.
I knew Darren made a great income off of his blogging and ventured further into his career when I stumbled upon Digital Photography School. DPS is a blog and forum based around, you guessed it, Digital Photography. With my newfound home in the jamblr crew, learning about Photography and how they think and work has become something I have found myself very interested in. Learning how they work will help me make jamblr work for them.
So what can I find at Digital Photography School? Taking a glance at the blog’s homepage, recent articles include;
Turning Black and White Photos into Color Ones
15 Tips for Candlelight Photographs
The DPS Forum contains one stellar section, a “Critique my Shot,” portion where real photographers get real feedback from other photographers and members of the forum. What’s great is that you upload your photo into the category that fits best, so you are judged by others with similiar scenes and so on.
Personally, I take horrible photos. For my blog posts I usually head over to Flickr and use an image from a Creative Commons search. This has worked great and shed light onto some of my posts. Now that I am jumping into a Social Collaboration realm, I am realizing that it may be time to express myself through images that I see and take apart in.
Hopefully with some tips from Darren and the gang at Digital Photography School, my shots won’t suck so much.
Talk to ya next week jamblr’s!
Photo by DPS forum member falafelicious
Jimmie’s Chicken Shack and jamblr Collide
May 21, 2008
Last week before the FMF parties and showcases began, jamblr hosted a pre-party sponsored by Budweiser, Rock For Hunger and Rock Pink at Central Station’s Rock Bar in Downtown Orlando. There was live music by local acoustic pop-rock act Dagnese and a battle of the bands beer pong tournament.
Also in attendance was 90’s rock stars Jimmie’s Chicken Shack. They came by to sign-up for jamblr and sign a few posters before their big sold-out show at AKA Lounge next door.
Here are a few photos from the night!
jamblr sign-ups Geoff, Vegas and Jen with jamblr Marketing Guy Greg
Jimmie’s Chicken Shack signs a poster for jamblr
Jimmie’s Chicken Shack with jamblr Geoff
Dagnese rocks the stage
Cori Yarckin shows her “peace”
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported. We had over 50 new sign-ups that night who are ready to jump into the jamblr network when we launch this fall.
See ya next time!
-Greg Rollett
KG and the Band | The Backbone of jamblr
May 7, 2008
Last Saturday night, May 2nd I was at Backbooth in Downtown Orlando checking out an amazing local band and good friends of mine. The band was KG and the Band.
Greg, why are you talking about a local band?
KG and the Band isn’t your typical local band. For years now, KG has been the center piece of a rotating band of talented musicians. New guitar players and fill in keys. Rent a saxophonists, one-off drummers. Even now that his roster is stable, he has composed great talent from all types of geographic backgrounds and ethnicities.
Through all the constant roster changes, the music has spoken louder than the players and broken through your typical local band tunes.
Jamblr was created for just this type of environment.
For musicians that see the bigger picture, but need help putting the pieces together. A talented song writer and entertainer like KG can throw up a melody and some rough vocals and let musicians from across the world add pieces to his musical puzzle. When KG feels the track is complete, he can close it up and split the songs writes with all the contributing artists.
Virtual bands and musical collaborations are just one side of jamblr, but it plays a huge part in our inspiration. All 5 of us jamblr’s have been associated with bands, needed inspiration and vision for our music and set out to find great, new talent.
As the jamblr journey begins, we are looking for KG’s across the globe to connect with and make their art become reality. It’s very exciting for us to see their dreams start to be realized.
KG currently has a steady crew backing his Kenyan rock and world beat music and is taking his show on the road. Be sure to check him out a venue near you. Below is his current show schedule:
May 11th | The Social | Donald Johnson Benefit | Orlando, FL
July 5th | The Social with Laura Reedand some hip-hop artist named G-Ro | Orlando, FL
July 18th | Dunedin Brewery | Dunedin, FL
-Greg Rollett
The Marketing Guy
Jamblr.com is Live
April 30, 2008
For the few of you who have been privileged enough to see this page, you will have noticed that there has been some activity in the Jamblr camp. We now have our Splash homepage at Jamblr.com to start garnering some excitement about Jamblr.com and all the cool little (BIG) tasks we have been up to. If you haven’t already, I hope you stop by and put in your e-mail address so we can send you an invite code as soon as Danny says that I can!
Welcome to the Jamblr Blog
April 30, 2008
Hello world. That’s what you’re supposed to say right?
Fortunate for the creative type, we don’t encourage the ordinary here at Jamblr. Jamblr was created with the mentality that we want to push the limits of Music, Film, Photos, Writing and more. Our complete vision revolves around the fact that as more people are added to the mix, the better a project becomes.
Everything on Jamblr starts with an idea. This post started with an idea. I wanted to talk a little about Jamblr, and why we are here. I then talked to my compadres in Jamblr and got their ideas. That spawned into the video that is now on the blog homepage.
Great songs are often written when one great riff or melody is written or recorded. When other players and musicians are brought into the fold it becomes a masterpiece, or a better work of art.
Movies are made with producers, directors, actors, casting crew, sound, lighting and the whole nine yards to make something that is pleasantly delightful to the eyes.
Even home builders and architects have a team that collaborates and uses their creativity into how they are going to plan a home or commercial site before construction.
That’s what Jamblr is all about. Through the next few weeks as we ready the site for a private, and then a public launch, we are going to be giving off some great “ideas” to spark your creativity. There are 5 voices in Jamblr and you are going to meet everyone of them.
We encourage you to share your thoughts, opinions, praise and even tell us when we’re full of it. It’s only going to make us better as a team and our site better for you the user!
So, without further ado; welcome to the Jamblr Blog!
-Greg Rollett (the marketing guy)
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