The Friday Focus - Four Facts For the Future -

I love looking to the future!  I love technology that just works like you expect it to and I'm amazed when I really start to think about the technology we do have.  We have a space station! I can video chat with anyone in the world in real time, my phone sends a message without wires, in fact most of my devices at home communicate wirelessly. But I always keep thinking, what's next...

Looking back in the 1950s and seeing how that era envisioned the 21st Century, I can certainly tell I'm not alone in that passion.  Notice there's still an ash tray on the table....



















Here are four great moments to reflect on where we've been and where we're going in the evolution of technology.

1.  Current Tech That's Leaving Us
A myriad of current tech will be non-existent in the next 6 years - which of these will you miss the most?

2.  Computers Will Be Very Cheap

How cheap? Thanks to open source software and brilliant design, you can now purchase a basic computer for $35 with a Linux operating system. 

3.  Flexible Video Displays

Imagine walking down the grocery store aisle to something that resembles the Vegas strip! Each product pitching to you in multi-media.  For Harry Potter fans imagine newspapers with .gifs and short segments embedded into a physical paper (for those folks yet to give up on print papers).  Flexible E-ink is already in development and LG hopes it will be in products by this year.

4.  Big Box Retailers Will Continue to Struggle

Electronic shopping will make a drastic shift to online purchasing with only a few niche stores remaining.  And so it begins....Ax falls on 50 stores, hundreds of jobs in a reboot of Best Buy

What are somethings you can't wait to see in the future?

I'm holding out for my own robot car that drives itself - which should be here by the end of the decade.

Friday Focus - The Luck of the Irish

With St. Patrick's day coming up this weekend, I wanted to take a look at how people are talking about St. Patty's day on social media... and take a trip down memory lane Crichton Leprechaun.

The folks at Lab42 created an infograph from their research into what people were saying about the holiday through social media.

**UPDATE - our favorite auto-tuners have autotuned the Mobile Leprechaun video - find the original at the bottom of the page  

First UP

What do people call it? Notice I referred to it by both names a little earlier

St. Patrick's Day it is!

Now, how do you participate?

94% of us will at least be wearing green - and at least nobody polled hates the holiday.  

No SAD for St. Patrick's Day!  Though that may be attributed to the drinking... 

What are some of the things you associate with St. Patrick's Day?

The color green, shamrocks, an amateur sketch of an actual leprechaun. 

Wait, what? - more on that later.

OK as promised here's the video that started it all - the famous Alabama Leprechaun.

Local legend began to spread about a Leprechaun living in a tree so a local news team investigated.  Over 20 million views later, the legend only grows.

Enjoy the weekend, be safe, watch out for Leprechauns and be sure to wear your green!

Thomas Broadus
Director of Interactive | The Focus Group
join me on twitter @tbroonline

The Friday Focus - Very Pinteresting... Pinterest in 5 steps

5 Steps to 

OK - we have the name out of the way, but what does it actually mean? Do we really have room for another social sharing platform in our management profile? The answer for Pinterest is yes.  For now anyway.

Here's the rundown.

Step 1. Get an Invitation to join.  It's a private site, well private in the terms that if you want to be involved with Pinterest you need an invite.  (Pssst we just happen to have a few, email me at tbroadus at focusgroupms.com and I'll be happy to make some arrangements, since we're friends)

Step 2. Know the terms.  You can't just starting pinning like a pro if you don't exactly know what that means now can you?

1. Pinterest - "Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and “follow” collections created by people with great taste." - The official definition.
2. Pinning - the act of posting something you fancy to your personal area of Pinterest.
3. Board - the topical area on your personal page where you categorize your pinnings to share with the world.

To get the most out of Pinterest you should start pinning to your boards as soon as you find things you feel are share-worthy to your soon to be PinHeads. Ok, I made the PinHeads one up, but I think it'll catch on.

Step 3. Find some solid topics, brands, friends and brands to follow.  Too often private networks end up being an online wasteland of high level techies (such as myself) looking for new people to interact with, but unable to find an audience.  Pinterest is an exception to the rule and is a thriving network with new content added every hour, and depending on the size of the networks you are following, it could be as much as every minute.  This will make your experience much more enjoyable.

Step 4. Dispel the "No Man's Land" myth - there are tons of guys on Pinterest.  Don't just take my word for it, here's a good article on the subject. The rate of growth alone shows an adoption rate across the board from men and women and from differing demographics and age ranges.

Step 5. Check out The Focus Group Pinterest page, we're big fans of the community and use it as a place to share some cool design work, ideas and a few of our favorite places, foods and activities from the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  http://pinterest.com/thefocusgroup/

And we promise to be good stewards...

Thomas Broadus

Director of Interactive | New Media

The Focus Group

228-832-3667
Email Thomas

The Friday Focus - Facebook Timeline

A few of you may have noticed the announcement from Facebook about the changes in how brand pages will work.  I thought I would take a few minutes and talk through Facebook Timeline and what this transition means for page admins.

First the basics - 

1. Timeline is what Facebook is calling their new format for the user and brand profile pages.

2. Every brand page will be switched to this profile by March 30th (so there's no avoiding the transition).

3. It opens new opportunities to share about your brand and adds an entire new level in creativity to connect to your audience.

Here is Facebook's explanation on the new layout in case you haven't seen it.

The process isn't bug free however, I've experienced a few glitches as has at least one other member of The Focus Group office, so at this point Facebook needs to get the kinks all worked out by the 30th.

What we're excited about is the most eye catching feature of the Timeline, the large cover photo.  You still have your profile pic that everyone is accustomed to, but in addition you have a much larger space to show off your brand and creativity.  

Here's Coca-cola's page

There are a few changes you need to be aware of...

- Facebook tabs are being deemphasized and you will no longer be able to create a default view for your visitors sending them to these specialized tabs.  This may be one of the larger hurdles for Facebook brand managers. 

- Current applications utilized will have to be re-engineered to fit the new page layouts.  

We'll keep you updated as we learn more about Facebook Timeline!