Category Archives: Tech

Google Me: The New Business Card

Google Me What’s the first thing you do after meeting someone?  Search for them on Facebook? Google them? Follow them on Twitter? Essentially cyber stalk your new acquaintance. Don’t be ashamed. We all do it.

HR representatives use these tactics daily to get a glimpse into the lives of prospective employees. We’ve all heard the perpetual warning from parents and professors: “Be smart about the content you post online. Don’t post pictures online of you doing a keg stand, your escapades on Bourbon Street and such.”

So, when a potential employer Googles you, what comes up? Are you all business or all biddie? If you feel that the Google results provide an accurate representation of your skills, experience, passions and interests, then why not use this nifty, new era business card designed by Facebook Creative Director Ji Lee?

Google Me Business Card

Google Me Business Card

Now, let’s compare my two cards:

Katelyn Stokes Business Card
Traditional Business Card (front)
Katelyn Stokes Business card back

Traditional Business Card (back)

Since the other Katelyn Stokes is a rising tennis star featured in the Washington Post, I often compete with her for the number one, two and three spots. However, recently, my Twitter and this blog have helped me score top rankings. Therefore, I would feel comfortable giving out the Google Me business card.

Although, I think my traditional business card provides more pizazz than the card with the standard Google interface featuring my name. Also, this style business card lists all my contact information. If you Googled me, you would only find ways to reach me virally: Twitter, LinkedIn and email.

Which card proves more effective?

I think it depends on what results appear when you Google your name. Also, it depends on your audience. If you are applying for a stiff, corporate suit-type job then I say stick with the more traditional style business card.  For people in more creative fields who have “optimized” names, I recommend the Google Me card format.

BU Students Vote: Groupon vs. LivingSocial

To me, Groupon vs. LivingSocial is the equivalent of the Pepsi vs. Coke wars and Apple vs. Microsoft saga.

What are Groupon and LivingSocial?

Groupon and LivingSocial are coupon-based companies that send users an email each morning featuring a local, business deal. Discounted vouchers range from 50-90% off restaurants, theaters, sporting events, spas, haircuts and more.

What are some differences between Groupon and LivingSocial?

  1. Based in Chicago, Groupon pioneered the concept of using collective buying to get a daily deal on local goods and services. Headquartered in Washington DC, LivingSocial was founded as a social discovery and cataloging network company.
  2. Groupon declined a $3 billion offer from Yahoo and $6 billion offer from Google, while LivingSocial received a $175 million investment from Amazon in December 2010.
  3. As of December 2010, Groupon claimed more than 44 million subscribers while LivingSocial declared approximately 20 million members.

Groupon vs. LivingSocial: Super Bowl XLV Advertisements

Created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Groupon’s controversial pre and post-game spots:

Created by The Martin Agency, LivingSocial’s pre-game spot:  


Given all that information, which service do BU students prefer?

And the winner is…Groupon!

#4sqDayBoston

Happy foursquare Day!

Foursquare What are you doing to celebrate this momentous 4/22 day aka April 16th?

Boston foursquarers are celebrating #4sqDayBoston by pub crawling and checking in to benefit The Greater Boston Food Bank.  All ticket proceeds will be donated to The Food Bank. If you are roaming the Faneuil Hall bar scene  for happy hour tonight, say hello to the foursquare pub crawlers for me. They should be easy enough to spot…just look for people who are constantly checking their smart phones.

Based on these tweets, it looks like the event is already a success!

#4sqDayBoston screenshot

Local advertising agency Allen & Gerritsen also celebrated the success of this popular location-based platform by inviting passionate foursquare users to a friendly game of old school foursquare in the Boston Common this afternoon.

Looking at this twitpic from @RSprung, there seems to be a heated discussion about the rules of foursquare. A&G, are you sure this event was to play foursquare and not to discuss strategies for client’s brands to leverage location-based services?

A&G foursquare day in the CommonSource: Rachel Sprung, @RSprung

Although I did not play my FAVORITE childhood game in the common, I did avidly check into each place I stopped today. Hopefully, by the end of the night, I will be mayor of two of my favorite, local hangouts: Angora Café and Blue State Coffee.

RIP Flip

Flip Video CameraDearly beloved Flip,

Although you weren’t the first digitally handheld apple of my eye, I truly love you.

I remember the first day I saw you—Christmas day three years ago. Although you were in a committed relationship at the time, I knew some day that we would be together.

And I was right. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back our first encounter.

December 25, 2009.

My Dad opened that Little White Box and adoringly whispered in my mom’s ear, “YES! I love it.” But, six months later when the sleek body of the iPhone squirmed its way into his hands, his adoration for your bulkier bod waned.

Luckily, I benefited from his fickleness.

We’ve been through thick and thin. You helped me move into my first apartment, traveled with me, lent a listening ear, celebrated birthdays and shared lots of giggles.

So, this video montage is dedicated to you. Here’s to you flip. I will miss you more than you know.

Rest in peace.

BU Senior attends AdAge’s 2011 Digital Conference #winning

Last week, Advertising major Benji Michaels (COM ’11) attended AdAge’s 2011 Digital Conference. I had the opportunity to get an exclusive interview with the soon-to-be grad. He shared with me his experience at the event and the insights gained.

Benji Michaels

Benji with his Google water bottle, a free goodie from the conference

How did you end up winning tickets to AdAge’s Digital Conference?

They ran a contest on Twitter, and you had to submit a question to one of the panelist who would be at the conference. I happened to be on Twitter at the right time. So, I wrote one and they picked it.

Winning Tweets to AdAge Digital Conference

#winning tweets

So, tell me a little bit about the conference.

It’s a conference that brings together advertisers and marketers to talk about innovations, trends, insights in the digital space. It’s in its 6th year, I think. It was in NYC in a place called New World Stages at 50th and 9th. It was two nights—Wednesday and Thursday (April 6th-7th). Wednesday night, AdAge hosted a viral video awards show. The event awarded different campaigns or viral videos. I even met the BlendTec guy!

What sessions did you attend?

I went to everything I could. They had a few couple different tracks: social-based, video based or mobile based.  The founder of foursquare, Dennis Crowley, spoke. The founders of Boxee were also there. They talked about cutting the cord with interactive TV and personal, customized set-top boxes like an Apple or Google TV. I basically went to one presentation after the other:

Were there any other students at the conference?

Not that I knew of. It was an older crowd than expected. The CEOs were the youngest people there. Chris Hughes, the co-founder of Facebook, attended the conference. Also, the guy who invented the bump technologies was super young. There wasn’t as much networking as I had hoped, but it was totally worth it because of the content of the presentations.

How can you apply the insights learned in the presentation to your internship or your own brand?

The stuff people talk about is close to common sense. We are the first generation to inherently understand these platforms and technologies. All these people are learning how companies have been successful using Twitter, Facebook,  and Apps. But, these are things we know. We are the generation that has defined how Facebook and twitter are used.

The insights weren’t huge revelations. We take for granted how much we know about these things. There’s a gap between understanding how things work and relevant insights and strategies to apply. So, it takes savvy and experience to understand why a trending hash tag works as opposed to other marketing collateral.

Based on the information you learned at the conference, what is your advice for your peers?

We all use this stuff, but very few people know it as well as we do. Take your daily Facebook usage and make something of it. Stay trending on pop culture because so much of what drives strategy is culture and collective consciousness of society. No one is more tapped into it than we are.

Benji's tweet for AAdigital