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Devlin had the privilege of attending the very first Untether Talks conference that was held in Toronto this past week at the intimate Glen Gould Studio. The Talks, which were an expanded and interactive version of Untether.tv, proved to be insightful and inspiring. The response from attendees was quite positive and another conference is in the works for October, so no worries if you missed out on this past week’s activity.

Highlights from the two days included the following:

Amber Mac – This charming, digital guru, spoke about the ABC’s of social media, which include being Authentic, Bold and Consistent (brands, pay attention!)

Damien Patton – The CEO of Banjo, discussed the holy grail of relationships. He pointed out how location makes social networking more relevant and prevents fragmentation. Location helps one connect with someone or something on a more emotional level, making that person or event special, like the Olympics.

Asif Khan – The founder of the Location Based Marketing Association (LBMA) spoke to the concept of hyper local relevance. We are not far off from a time when every person, place or thing will be geo targeted which poses unprecedented challenges and opportunities to marketers.

When a person checks in and says “Hi, I’m here” a brand or product needs to respond by saying “Welcome! Let me offer you relevant content or an incentive to make your experience more enjoyable.”

Doug Stephens – Founder of Retail Prophet, took this one step further by prophesizing that instead of people checking into places, those places (or brands/products) will check into us. They will know what we’re looking for because all of our apps on our phone will be integrated and in communication with each other, making for a seamless experience.

He expanded on this concept with his analogy of a third shelf, a space that is not a channel, but is a moment in time, when the consumer wants to be targeted. I love this idea because it places the consumer at the forefront and makes his or her life easier and more convenient.

Yasser Ansari – Creator of Project Noah and Jason Segel look-alike, gave a passionate presentation about an app that he created with National Geographic which helps make science accessible and exciting for everyone. Even if you’re not very interested in science or nature, you’ll be blown away by the app’s simple and aesthetically pleasing design.

Sydneye Eve Matrix – This professor at Queens gave a stellar presentation on successful ways of combining social media and mobile devices in the classroom. Man, I wish I had a professor like her when I was in University; she seemed so resourceful and eager to help her students excel by reaching them on channels that they’re already on and are comfortable using.

Whurley – This Dude is one of a kind, which I guess is why he can get away with only having one name (think Madonna, Oprah, Bono, I could go on and on…) His presentation was definitely a crowd favourite, as he made sure that the audience was engaged the whole time by involving them in creating his slide deck, then cleverly answering everyone’s questions without any preparation. Pure genius. Not “Evil Genius” which comes up when you google his name. He seems like too much of a nice guy to be deemed evil and also sounds like one very cool Dad.

As someone who appreciates learning new things and contemplating what the future brings, I was excited when Whurley spoke about the auto industry and how it’s in flux.

How can we change transportation as a whole so that it’s more like one’s house and less like one’s car? How can we make it easier to do everything in a car, perhaps by having someone else (or an app) drive it? Will there even be cars in the Future? Maybe just brain powered skateboards… I loved this rant and read a fascinating article today about the same thing in Fast Company:

Whurley concluded by declaring that there is no such thing as mobile computing; computing has just gone mobile. When computing becomes more pervasive there will be a lot more opportunity for everyone because technology will be cheaper, faster and better.

What a great way to end off a presentation at a conference about being “untethered”. Of course my favourite part of the conference was meeting loads of new people and sharing opinions with them on new ideas that we garnered from the Talks.

Devlin attended the Mesh conference this week at The Allstream Centre in Toronto.  The conference focused on the impact that digital is having on how we live and work. There were numerous speakers, breakout sessions and networking opportunities in which industry experts and digital enthusiasts, from Toronto and beyond, connected and swapped ideas.

Here are some key points that we took away from the conference:

Be a producer, not a consumer

The internet is a tool that makes it really easy to share interesting information with vast networks. Why not create compelling content to share, instead of recycling what others have written? Though this is a more challenging feat, we are living in the golden age of ideas and must take advantage of the widespread power that technology has as a pervasive medium. At Devlin, we pride ourselves at being original.

Make data accessible and actionable

Numbers, statistics and research are not as scary or boring as people fear. Folks should be able to have conversations with data in order to arrive at new insights. Democratize data and turn it into a puzzle to be shared. Or, think of it as a gumball, hard to crack but worth chewing and dissecting to arrive at the end-result. (Hopefully you don’t mind sharing your gumballs).

Balance your information diet

Living in today’s fast paced age we are constantly bombarded with new information and it is easy to lose focus on the task at hand and get distracted by competing messages, tweets, pins and status updates. Put aside a block of time each day for blog checking, social media updates and other distractions. Try to only log on during that specified time so that you have the rest of the day to create meaningful work. And here’s another bit of advice I heard, as we consume information, we ought to be mindful of its effects on our mental health. Not everything on the internet is fit to print…

Here are some of our favourite tweets from the conference:

@michaelocc Marketing used to be about the width of your wallet, now it’s about the width of your brain

@hmorrison We need to act more as citizens of the internet, not just as passive users. Fight for our right

@nshaps Knowledge is changing as it moves from static mediums to untraditional forms of communication and collaboration

@ markmckay Many internet users are suffering Facebook/Twitter fatigue. Pinterest provides relief from status updates, etc.

@markmckay Pinterest is basically Reddit for girls

@ docmikeevans Dr. Google is right only about 50% of the time

@docmikeevans Trumping in patient engagement: stories trump data, relationships trump stories, individuals trump organizations

Pinterest has been garnering a lot of attention recently and for good reason. The new social media website that lets users share pin boards is reminiscent of that very attractive, artsy, fashionable, new girl that moves into the neighbourhood and is instantly the most popular kid in school.

Pinterest generates more referral traffic than YouTube, LinkedIn and Google combined! It hit 10 million monthly unique visitors faster than any other independent site in history and it’s only been around since March of 2010.

Pinterest started out as a platform for fashionistas and wedding planners to gather inspiration and share their concepts. Its simple design, ease of use and collaborative appeal took off quickly. Its daily users have increased by more than 145% since the beginning of 2012!

Pinterest is now commonly used by 18-34 year old upper middle class women, the demographic that tends to do the most shopping. Brands and retail companies should pay attention and jump on the Pinterest bandwagon!

Pinterest is great for brands because it provides free targeted advertising for their product offerings. Retail companies like Barney’s, are starting to adopt a “Pin It” button which lets users pin products from the company’s website directly onto users’ Pinterest boards, for all their followers to see. Plus, when an original image is pinned, it includes a link back to the site where it came from thereby increasing the website’s search rank.

Companies can also leverage Pinterest to showcase their brand’s true identity by focusing on thematic colours, values and interests that make up their brand’s character. The Oprah Winfrey Network, for example, has different boards that feature inspiring quotes, a tribute to Whitney Houston and food that her target audience would enjoy eating. Pin boards help viewers understand a brand’s true personality.

Pinterest also lets users input prices into products that they’ve pinned which can appear in the “Gifts” section, organized by price, making it easy to find the perfect present.

Since online shopping is probably the only thing that’s grown as exponentially as Pinterest, it makes logical sense for brands to create their own Pinterest pages or have a “Pin It” button link directly to a page on their site where consumers are directed to purchase the item.

There are numerous programs that synch Pinterest with Facebook and Twitter for easy integration between different social media channels making the hobby of the consumer or job of the brand manager, much more controllable.

You can follow Devlin’s Pinterest board by clicking here!

References from the following sites were used in the creation of this blog post: http://www.mpdailyfix.com/why-pinterest-should-be-of-interest-to-brands/

http://mashable.com/2012/02/14/pinterest-daily-users-are-up-125-percent/?WT.mc_id=obinsite

Just over a year ago, Devlin wrote a brief summary explaining how QR Codes work and what they mean to marketing. Now, one year and one month later, Devlin has had the opportunity to play around with QR Codes, analyze campaigns that have used QR Codes and contemplate their effectiveness.

After little deliberation, we’ve decided that they’re a dying breed. QR Codes require effort and consumers are lazy. Users have to download a QR app (which doesn’t always work) and then they have to line up their phone over the QR Code precisely in the right position and wait.

This proves difficult in the Winter when a user wants to put his glove back on or his hand is shaky from the cold. It is also plain annoying because consumers are used to getting information quickly and conveniently.

Marketing messages should be spoon-fed to consumers, not hidden from them behind a black & white square of code that illicits no emotional response, except for frustration.

Not only are QR Codes time consuming, they can also be dangerous. QR Codes store data which can easily be manipulated by cyber criminals. Some infected QR Code applications have hidden SMS texting charges which appear in monthly cell phone bills. It is reassuring to know that less than 5% of the American population has scanned a QR Code.

So what’s the alternative?

MVS which stands for “Multiple Virtual Storage” allows users to simply take a picture with their phone of an image that has MVS technology, in order to receive more information about that product including coupons, the ability to buy the product and customer reviews. With MVS technology, downloading and scanning can become a thing of the past.

Companies in South Korea and Argentina currently allow commuters waiting for the subway to view images of groceries or office supplies which they can order and have delivered or picked up within minutes.

MVS provides instant information or instant gratification for those so inclined to learn more.

Google, launched an app last year that is similar to MVS, called Google Goggles which provides more information about an image, landmark or advertisement when a user takes a photo of this image through their Android phone or through the Google Goggles app.

Let us know about your experiences with QR Codes, MVS technology and/or Google Goggles.

Sources referenced in this post include the following sites:

http://mashable.com/2011/09/14/google-goggles-background-search/

http://mashable.com/2012/02/15/qr-codes-rip/

Devlinites love gadgets. Between their desktop computers, iPhones, iPod Touches, iPads, BlackBerrys, and Androids, each is customized to suit that person’s needs.  A lot can be said about a person by the apps they use, but we’ll leave that for a future post.

There are hundreds of thousands of apps to choose from, and everyone here has taken a tour through their device’s app store on many occasions. Whether you’re looking for fun games, productivity apps to increase workflow efficiency, education apps (because we’re always learning), or news apps to keep current on various topics, the choices have grown to almost limitless proportions.

Here’s a list of some of our favourite apps.

Cath Devlin, President

Foodspotting: A visual guide to help you find your next favourite eatery.

Rob van Oostrum, Build Manager

Epicurious: Perfect for figuring out on the fly what to do for dinner. Includes a shopping list function.

Shelley Mayer, Director, Sales and Marketing

Flipboard for iPad: Features magazine-style interface. It fetches your news feeds and presents them in an engaging and elegant way.

Evan Long, Creative Director

Carcassonne: The popular tile-based board game now available for iPhone and iPad. Try beating the computer, I dare you.

Luis Borba, Researcher Coordinator

Instapaper: Allows you to save web pages for reading later on. Intuitive interface, makes reading text content a pleasure.

IA Writer: Minimalist word processor that helps you focus on the important task of writing.

Pages & Keynote: The indispensable take-it-with-me-when-I-need-to-work-on-documents-offsite apps.

Angry Birds: It’s the most popular mobile game…ever. Enough said.

Karl Dionne, VP of Client Engagement

Sleep Cycle: The first bio-alarm clock for the iPhone. Analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you so you feel light and refreshed. No more excuses for getting to meetings late.

Jason Kogan, Product Manager & Steve Gallant, Project Coordinator:

Alfred: Like the mac spotlight, but faster, has more features and is just better overall.

Better Touch Tool: Allows you to easily make windows fullscreen, and allows you to make completely customized mouse/trackpad behaviour tailored to your every need. Want to 3 finger click to load firefox? Done!

Caffeine: Stops your mac from dimming the screen or turning off your screen. Really handy during presentations!

Eren Fernandez, Director of Operations

Shazam: Insanely popular music discovery app. The next time you’re at a department store and they’re playing that eerily familiar song over the speakers, break out the app. It will tell you what song it is.

Hipstamatic: Think Holga camera. Get that vintage photo look, digitally.

Flixter: Watch movie trailers, get showtimes, reviews, and even share favourite movies with your friends.