Heroes of Mobile Day: London Edition

Last year I was lucky enough to work on the first ever Heroes of the Mobile Fringe festival that ran paralel with Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Ahead of HOTMF 2013 a series of smaller scale events starting in London to keep the buzz going and help build up to the festival in Barcelona during February.

Heroes of Mobile Day: London Edition on Wednesday 17th October

Three discussion panel sessions happening at Mozilla HQ on St Martin’s Lane on Wednesday 17th October. All being well, these will be live webcast, but if you’re in London, you can join the audience as well and participate in a bit of networking at the same time. Each session will run for about 45 minutes with some time for refreshments before and after. You’re welcome to come to one, two or all three sessions, as you wish. They’re free to attend but we are limited in space as we want to keep the atmosphere intimate and to encourage discussion and questions from the audience.

State of the Mobile Nation – This session is sponsored by our friends at Hotwire PR and chaired by Russell Buckley. The discussion will be a review of where we are and where we’re going in the mobile industry and what that might mean for your business. More details and RSVP here. Doors open at 09.30 for a 10.00 start.

Mobile Advertising will Eat itself – This session will also be chaired by Russell Buckley and look at the latest innovations (or not) in the world of mobile advertising. More details and RSVP here. Doors open at 11.00 for a prompt 11.15 start.

(Mobile) Money makes the World go Round – This session will be chaired by Tim Green and will take a look at the world of mobile money, from payments to mobile wallets to the future (if any) for NFC and more. Details and RSVP here. Doors open at 12.30 for a prompt 13:15 start. We will be finished by around 14:00 but you’re welcome to stay for further networking and refreshments.

About the sponsors

Hotwire is an integrated PR and communications agency. Founded in 2000, the agency spans a number of industries including telecoms, media, marketing, consumer, technology, financial services and cleantech. Quickly becoming a global offering, Hotwire has offices in the UK, across Europe, Australia and the US. Suffice to say, the team are passionate about all things mobile and will be on hand to chew the fat with you.

Mozilla Spaces are open working environments where Mozillians can hack,code, design, research, create, engage and contribute to building a brighter future for the web and they are hosting this session. You may be familiar with Mozilla's brilliant Firefox browser for desktop and mobile and more recently, they announced their Firefox OS for mobile.

Swedish beers

To round off the day, we’ll be celebrating Swedish Beers’ 11th Birthday Party at The Nordic Bar from 18.30 with our friends from Millennial Media,LoopMe Media, Yuilop and Inspiring Interns. Again, free to attend. No formalities, no presentations, just good company, good chat and some free drinks (beer, wine and soft drinks a-plenty courtesy of our sponsors). More details here.

(Information on this page lifted from Musings of a Mobile Marketer and slightly tinkered with).

Blue Badge Style launches first mobile app for stylish, less-able people

Blue Badge Style a guide for a less able, stylish lifestyle, has launched a free mobile application for iPhone and Android (Blackberry app is on it's way). The app is aimed at stylish people with mobility issues (initially in London). The application identifies 'cool' venues near your location and uses its bespoke tick rating system to grade them on style, accessibility and facilities. The team plans to expand the Blue Badge Style offering throughout the UK and then the major European cities.

Founder Fiona Jarvis explains “mobility, or the lack of it, doesn’t mean that I’ve lost my sense of style, but I do want to know what to expect before I arrive at a venue. The Blue Badge Style app means that people with limited mobility and equally importantly, their friends, don’t have to be surprised or embarrassed by a lack of accessibility or facilities at a cool venue. It’s freedom shared!”

The Blue Badge Style app has been jointly developed by Stuxbot and UCL Advances, who offered to help at a recent UCL Mobile Academy course, believing the idea to be one which would improve the lives of people with disabilities. There are plans to introduce a Text To Speech version for the Blind. The aim is for Blue Badge Style to eventually include all disabilities.

As the UK population ages, people with temporary or permanent mobility issues are on the increase. Blue Badge Style estimates from government statistics, that up to 300,000 people in London have mobility issues. Founder, Fiona Jarvis wants to tap into this to create a community of like-minded people for whom style and disability are not mutually exclusive, and encourage them to rate their favourite restaurants, bars, shops, cafes, theatres etc. on Blue Badge Style. The tick rating system scores out of 5 for each category: 1.Access, 2.Facilities and 3.Style, so that users know exactly what to expect from each venue.

Fiona explains “Most people at some point in their life will experience periods of being less able. A sense of style does not diminish when this happens. If anything, it becomes more important”. She continues, “Style is the overriding premise of the website and app, along with a positive outlook on life. With this app you can easily see the best places near you, read our review, check the Blue Badge Style rating and get directions on how to get there. We’re also encouraging like-minded people to post their own reviews. We believe that decreased mobility need not stop you from enjoying a stylish life”.

*Social Media Strategist is currently providing Blue Badge Style with marketing support & user experience consultancy

QR Code Statistics 2012

The number of European smartphone users scanning QR codes via their devices has grown by 96% in the past year, to 17.4m users for the three-month average period ending July 2012, representing 14.1 per cent of the total smartphone audience.

Almost three in every four QR code scans resulted in users receiving product information, making this the most popular type of result across Europe. Germany ranked first for usage of QR codes, with 18.6 per cent of smartphone users making use of the service, several percentage points higher than its European counterparts. The proportion of smartphone users who scanned a QR code during the 3-month period was highest in Germany, at 18.6 per cent, followed by Spain (16 per cent), France (12.5 per cent), Italy (11.9 per cent) and then then UK (11.4 per cent).

Product information was by far the most popular result of a QR code scan, with nearly three in four scans being directed to this result across all EU5 markets. Over one in four scans resulted in event information, making it the second most popular result across the EU5. 19.4 per cent of QR code scanners received coupons or offers, while 13.4 per cent of scans resulted in an app download. 12.1 per cent of the audience also received charity/cause information as a result of a QR code scan.

“Consumer usage of QR codes offers a new and exciting opportunity for marketers to help move consumers further down the purchase funnel,” said Hesham Al-Jehani, European mobile product manager at comScore. “By offering more detailed product information or related content, QR codes bring consumer vital information in their consideration of a particular product or service. With smartphones now in the majority of consumers’ pockets, access to the sort of information they might get on their computer when researching a product online can help retailers improve their conversion in-store.”

QR Code marketing is a easy and quick way to direct a user to a specific location via their mobile phone. It can work well when trying to increase mobile application downloads, social media engagement, coupon usage, information, targeted map etc. For example, scan the QR code below to 'Like' Social Media Strategist on Facebook:

If you would like more information about mobile marketing and how to effectively use QR Codes get in touch

Google Maps on iOS 6 Tutorial

Apple has ditched Google Maps on iOS 6. Google has promised to bring a dedicated app to the new iOS 6 platform, but that app is currently missing in action. But you can still use Google Maps on your iPhone, follow these quick steps and while the experience isn't perfect, you will get a lot of the same benefits as you had before.

Step 1: Open up Safari, and enter the url maps.google.co.uk

Step 2: Click okay when the Notification pop up appears asking whether you are happy for "https://maps.google.co.uk" to use your current location.

Step 3: When the page finishes loading, click on the share icon in the centre of the menu bar at the bottom and click on the "Add to Home Screen Icon", on the next pane click "Add" in the top right hand corner.

Step 4: Your done. When you want to find yourself you can simply click on this icon and as long as you have internet access you'll be able to use the Google Mapping service.

Should I be using Pinterest?

If you are a organisation that sells desirable / aesthetically pleasing items (clothes, furniture etc) or your services please the eye (you are a designer, very good at cleaning windows) then you should think about showing your images to the world using Pinterest.

Pinterest is a visual scrapbook. Users put together clusters of images based on the merit of how they look. These are then arranged into categories defined by the user (for example "things I want to buy" etc). Pinterest is now driving a huge amount of targeted and relevant traffic to a range of websites. It is also staggering to see that the amount of traffic Pinterest now refers to third party websites exceeds that of Twitter, Yahoo and Bing (according to data attained by Shareaholic).

Pinterest is easy and intuitive to use (it is also a great tool for those who like to go window shopping online)

The Samaritans using a Giant Mobile Phone!

The Samaritans are currently using one my giant mobile phones complete with LCD screen as part of their marketing efforts. Registered charities and not for profits are welcome to use one or both of these giant phones for free. More information and an image of the giant phones can be found here.

Giant mobile phone hire

Photo by @DavidsWayRound in Peterborough

The Samaritans is a confidential emotional support service for anyone in the UK and Ireland. The service is available 24 hours a day for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide. Volunteers offer support by responding to phone calls, emails and letters. Alternatively people can drop in to a branch to have a face to face meeting. Across the UK you can call Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90.

UCL & Goldman Sachs 10ksb Social Media & SEO Workshops

James Norris will be running two sessions on Thursday 14th June for UCL & Goldman Sachs 10ksb program. The two workshops have a 30 minute break in between, however many of the areas addressed overlap. If you are able to attend both we recommend doing so. The first workshop 'Growing your Business with Social Media' will address using social networks and online tools from a business perspective. This will allow you to attain an insight into your business, raise its awareness and ultimately help you to achieve your goals (such as profit, downloads, enquiries etc).

Growing your Business with Social Media – Workshop 1 Thursday 14th June, 11.00am to 1.00pm

This workshop will teach those attending how to use specific online platforms and why they may want to use each one for their own business. There will be a series of short tasks for attendees to carry out during the workshop each lasting no longer then five minutes. We encourage attendees to (ideally) bring a laptop with them. If those attending do not have a laptop they may wish to bring a tablet or a notepad.

We expect all attendees to have a Facebook and Twitter account prior to the workshop. If you do not have an account for each please create them before the start of the workshop.

…..Light lunch provided 1.00 – 1.30pm

Getting your business "found in Google" using SEO, analytics and online tools – Workshop 2 Thursday 14th June, 1.30pm to 3.30pm

James Norris will be running two sessions on Thursday 14^th June for UCL & Goldman Sachs 10ksb program. The two workshops have a 30 minute break in between, however many of the areas addressed overlap. If you are able to attend both we recommend doing so.

This workshop Getting your business "found in Google" using SEO, analytics and online tools will begin with ‘an introduction to search engine optimization’ (SEO) presentation. This will show attendees how search engines (specifically Google) works and the criteria’s in which Google ranks websites for specific terms. The presentation will help attendees to think about factors that influence a website’s performance within search engines. After the presentation a number of SEO and analytic tools will be addressed. This will be carried out in a workshop format and attendees will be able to use a variety of free tools to get an idea of how their own website is performing. If attendees do not have a website they (in some circumstances) will be encouraged to use the tools to evaluate a company who could be seen as on of their competitors.

This will give attendees the knowledge and tools required to analyse their website’s performance and help increase the amount of relevant traffic to it. We encourage attendees to (ideally) bring a laptop with them. If attendees do not have a laptop they may wish to bring a tablet or a notepad.

About James Norris

James has devised and executed a range of different campaigns for brands and organisations including Channel 4, Nokia and Glastonbury Festival. He has also advised the Labour Party (Ed Miliband, Ed Balls and Ken Livingston) about the state of the startup scene in the UK and troubles new businesses face in the current climate.

James is the founder the startup ‘DeadSocial’. DeadSocial attained support from UK Trade & Investment to announce the platform at SXSW in Texas earlier this year. DeadSocial has since enjoyed early success and recognition becoming a finalist at the London Web Summit 2012 before achieving a top four position at The Next Web & Microsoft’s ‘Startup Rally’ 2012 in Amsterdam in March.

More information about James can be found at: Social Media Strategist / DeadSocial / James’ Twitter account