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Football Team Managed By Fans

Tony Separovic — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:41:20 +0000

Back in April 2011, we spotted the "crowdsourcing a concert" concept where music fans direct song list order and what videos get projected on stage for their favourite band. Well it appears that similar crowdsourcing concept is going strong and is showing no sign of slowing down in the sporting arena.

In Mexico, the Murcielagio Football club from Guamuchil which plays in the Mexican football second division national league takes the concept to another level. The team has no coach/trainer but are managed by the fans who use SMS and the club's website to manage the team.

Whenever a decision is required, a voting system is used by fans to make the decision. The fans make decisions such as, basic team line-up, substitutions, what players to chat with at half time along with player of the match who then earns a financial bonus.

Perfect example of embracing the crowdsourcing concept where the crowd drives decisions and truly impacts on the outcome.

Have you thought about how your business can embrace a similar concept?

One Big Switch

Tony Separovic — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 04:19:42 +0000

We have seen the likes of Spreets, Living Social and Groupon leading the trend in the group buying concept over the last couple of years. It's popularity has increased immensely over the last year or so with the crowd, who are always looking for a great deal. We are starting to see a number of new startups taking the crowd power group buying concept to a new level.

Australian startup One Big Switch, is using crowd power to obtain better mortgage deals with the various financial institutions for everyday mortgage holders. One Big Switch launched its first campaign "Choice Big Bank Switch" on the 31st July 2011 to find 1000 Australian mortgage holders willing to switch banks for a better mortgage deal. 10,000 Australian consumers registered in the first 12 hrs and 40,000 registered in the first 2 weeks.

Concept is simple, mortgage holders interested in switching banks for a better deal register on the One Big Switch site. One Big Switch negotiates with lenders, seeking the best deal and rate for the switchers. Mortgage lenders compete with each other to attract the group of switchers with a special offer and rate. The registered mortgage holders then have the opportunity to determine if the winning lender offer is right for them.

One Big Switch monetization is based on a commission model which is paid by the lending company who win over the switchers. One Big Switch advises that full disclosure of commission payments is disclosed to all switchers.

Currently One Big Switch is looking at other switching offers such as electricity and other market segments.

Another great example of an innovative startup creating a twist on an existing competitive market concept. Why not start a similar concept in your corner of the globe, inturn demolishing government and corporate dominance. People power is showing no signs of slowing down.

SceneTap

Tony Separovic — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:19:59 +0000

Have you ever gone to a new city or wanted to checkout a new nightclub or bar but was worried that it might be empty or overpopulated by a particular gender.

Let SceneTap determine your probabilty of getting picked up by providing you a realtime snap shot of the male to female ratio at a nightclub or bar prior to arriving at the venue.

SceneTap utilise facial recognition technology with cameras installed at the entrance of clubs and bars which deterrmines the number of patrons along with male to female ratio at a venue.

The companies Chief Executive Colin Harper came up with the idea after spending money on cabs barhopping at clubs and pubs but not having a good time.

The idea leads to possible privacy accusations or seen as promoting stalking or sexual behaviour. SceneTap claims that their cameras do not identify individuals but determines male and female patrons. They also claim that data collected is completely anonymous.

In the US, 200 bars and clubs have signed for the service. The iPhone and Android app is free and is planned for launch sometime in July 2011.

SceneTap joins the likes of similar apps such as Grindr,

Technology adding another twist and angle to the social dating scene.

Crowdsourcing a Concert

Tony Separovic Editor — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 02:55:38 +0000

Ever been to a concert and they didn’t play any of your favourites?

Ok, so if you bothered to buy a ticket, you’re probably a fan, and they probably played the songs the fans like best.

But what if you could control the songlist order? Or which band member who got the spotlight most? Or what flashes of videos were projected across the stage?

For UMBowl II, Umphrey McGee‘s concert, you could. A text-based voting system enabled the audience to choose exactly these variables.

Founded in 1997, Umphrey McGee has been looking towards a more innovative way of fan involvement for a whilst since. For their record ‘Mantis’ they requested pre-orders, the premise being that the more orders they got, the more content they would produce. More songs, more bonus content, live tracks, alternate takes, fly-on-the-wall studio visits.

UMBowl II ended up being a sold out show. The ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ experience, tallied real-time on the night itself packed out Park West, Chicago, Illinois on April 2nd. And those who couldn’t score a ticket were able to purchase live streaming of the concert on iClips for $9.99.

More on this and upcoming UMBowl experiences here.

Crowdsourcing Wireless Coverage

Tony Separovic Editor — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 02:32:48 +0000

One wonders on the extensive market research that goes into those largess carrier claims, “Best Coverage Worldwide” being a biggie. But here’s a company looking to take that wonder away and put some real-time data into our hands and pockets. RootMetrics. RootMetrics downloads as an app onto your iPhone or Android and runs in the background of your calls and data signals to crowdsource the performance data of wireless networks. Data that culminates in what RootMetrics call a ‘RootScore’, enabling users and mobile carrier customers to gauge which carrier suits them best. The RootScore gives consumers insight into many aspects of mobile coverage not usually available upon mobile carrier signup. Consumers can see what kind of coverage they’ll get at specific street intersections, how much time it takes to download a 2MB file or even how much time it takes to upload a snapped photo. The data is also mapped in a RootMetrics heat map, showing network performance in bright green (strong signals), red (poor), and black (little to none). At the moment the app is available for US users, and you can view and participate in RootScores across 22 cities. All available online or on the nifty little app that works with and for you.

Give A Minute

Tony Separovic Editor — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:00:14 +0000

Give a Minute is a virtual billboard to improve our cities. Now in operation in Chicago and Memphis, and coming to New York and San Jose. This platform invites the public to Twitter or post comments and suggestions on directly bettering their city. An initiative designed by Local Projects and backed by CEOs for Cities, billboards and bus shelter ads ask citizens questions, ‘What would encourage you to walk?’ or ‘What skills would you like to learn?’. You can SMS or tweet your idea or response in to the contact provided and it gets registered on a ‘Post-it’ at Give A Minute’s website. But the suggestions do not end here, Give A Minute enlist city leaders to reply to the best suggestions. It’s real-time conversation on the state of a town between it’s leaders and it’s inhabitants. Crowdsourcing for the betterment of the way a city works. Give A Minute skips over the town hall meetings and door-to-door surveys to provide a direct line between a city’s inhabitants and it’s community leaders. A public dialogue to encourage and nurture positive change. A change that is afforded a greater pace due to the instantaneous power of social media and mobile technology. Urban innovation, crowdsourced.

Yoxi, Gaming for Real Life Change

Tony Separovic Editor — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:56 +0000

Yoxi combines our human loves of competition and social relationships to power positive change. An online platform that sets ‘design challenges’, Yoxi openly invites teams to meet the challenge and design solutions. The voted-in winning solution goes on to receive a grant and mentor assistance with industry leaders and agencies to make their idea a reality. Challenges so far include the likes of Jamie Oliver’s favourite campaign, ‘design a better school cafeteria’, and the very current ‘help curb digital addiction’. Where the gaming comes in is in the voting process. Voting, like challenges, are open to all. The voting public are given ‘energy’ points with which to do as they will. These points tally up to secure the winning team their spot. But it’s not simply a matter of ‘I like this team, here are all my points’. Voters are allocated a certain number of ‘energy’ points per day, and they need to use them wisely. The more they back a certain team, the more their points count – they can double or even triple based on their loyalty. Voters can also earn extra points if their team get into the final round, or win for that matter – leaving them with extra ‘energy’ to use for any future voting. Commenting or assisting can also push up your points. When teams request for help or feedback they can award you with some ‘energy’ points in return. Yoxi also has a Kickstarter streak, voters can donate a pledge to their favoured team. But where it differs is that this amount will be matched by Yoxi themselves. Winning teams will receive this money to go towards their idea, up to the limit of USD40,000. Needless to say, every dollar pledged earns the voter more ‘energy’. Yoxi is crowdsourced ideas, powered into being through a voting system that engages the strategic thinking of a socially invested audience. Gaming for change.

Crowdsourcing for developers at $35 per hour

Tony Separovic — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:08:45 +0000

The crowdsourcing concept has really shaken up the employment and recruitment industry and is not showing signs of slowing down, with new sites popping up globally. One that has caught our eye this week is CanYouCode which provides a matching process between developers seeking work and companies needing to hire a developers. Why are they different to other crowdsourcing sites I hear you ask, CanYouCode states: “While there are many freelancing websites, the rewards on these websites are so low (often less than $10/hour) that good developers find them unattractive.” “We manually verify all companies which offer services here,” the site explains. “Like how good their team is. Or maybe look at their Open Source contributions. And whether they have a standards-compliant, well-designed website.” Developers are guaranteed a base rate of USD$35 per hour for jobs via the site. CanYouCode is based in India and is currently targeting US and Europe market. They are currently seeking early investor funding.