Available now: iTunes, Android marketplaces.

The 2012 World Appreciative Inquiry Conference in Ghent, Belgium held in April is available for download from iTunes and Android markets.

Enhancing Attendees Experience

The app is the hand-held concierge of the conference. We had fun designing features to enhance the experience of conference goers that can’t be done in a standard conference program, particularly one that is traditional print.

Anticipation and Imagination

In the Appreciative World, we seek to discover the best of humankind, to build on strengths, to celebrate the talents of all participants, to anticipate and imagine what more can be done to make a situation, a person, a product excel.  We used that perspective in designing this app for the World Appreciative Inquiry Conference.

Sustained Connection and Learning

The Conference app is available before, during and after the event so that the learning and engagement continues well beyond the event itself.

Conference-spp-system

For a more detailed view of the features set, please visit our conference-app-system website.  The app is a native universal app, designed for iPad and iPhone. No persistent wifi connection required to access the conference program, presenters, sponsors, venue, transportation information and animated maps.

Instant access to Papers and Presentations

Attendees can easily search and filter presentations, papers and abstracts in context as part of the session detail information and provide information as needed during the event.

Sharing and Networking

The Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn integration enables attendees to share interesting sessions with their peers and extend the reach for presenters and event organizers.

Real-Time Updates and Reminders

Attendees receive just-in-time notifications regarding news, scheduling and program changes, made visible on the home screen.

Rich Experience and Paperless Events

The Conference-App-System can make your conference truly paperless, with the integration of slides and pdfs.  The app has a note taking feature, enabling participants to create a personalized and valuable reference app to be used long after the conference and can be emailed to others in the spirit of collaboration.

App Features:

• Search feature to find presenters, their bios, their photos, their session outlines and room locations
• Personal session builder to build your personal conference program with an intuitive color coded program view based on themed tracks
• Notetaker to take your own notes, edit them, collate them and link them to other other notes relevant to the same theme
• Email individual notes and insights during the sessions, or a a summary report of all notes taken at any time
• Share your notes with others to co-create entries for blogs, papers and other publications
• Presenters’ slides and presentations can be uploaded for participants to read
• Provide feedback to others via notes features
• News and notifications keep you informed about latest updates, program changes, newly scheduled events and meetings
• Conference blog feed
• Participate in live Twitter streams about the conference
• Share news on Facebook and connect to others on Facebook
• Sponsors’ information and links
• Around town: interactive maps with POIs, restaurants, sights and entertainments (iOS only)
• Local information about the International Convention Center (ICC), the town and its attractions, and transportation

App Support:

Feel free to contact us with any feedback and app support questions using our contact page

Coming Soon: Available on iPhone, iPad and Android

Atlantic Highlands Farmers’s Market app to serve a local community.

Build Community

An outcome of this app will be to build community around fresh local produce, while it serves local residents and farmers.  Atlantic Highlands, a harbor town just 40 minutes from Manhattan by fast ferry, boasts this local Farmers’ Market now in its fifth year.

Vendors

The app will facilitate exposure for vendors to strengthen connections with existing customers and attract new customers to the market. They get to show off and sell their produce to the local community.  And the community gets to enjoy Jersey fresh fruit and vegetables, freshly cut flowers and plants, freshly baked breads and pastries.  Dried fruits and nuts, pickles, olives, Polish and Italian specialties are all available at the Farmers’ Market open every Friday between May and October.

Sponsors

Local sponsors have the opportunity to showcase their products and services in the app and can sponsor events and vendors on a rotating weekly basis.

Mobile Marketing

With links to their websites, and social media pages, as well as email and telephone numbers, vendors and sponsors can promote their businesses within the app. It is active mobile marketing.

News Alerts

The AH Farmers’ Market app keeps you up-to-date with news at your Farmers’ Market on a weekly basis.  Great for customers, vendors, sponsors and visitors

App features:

• Information about and messages from the vendors
• QR coupons for loyal customers
• GPS coupons for those in the area
• Weekly special board
• Sponsors’ specials
• Build your own shopping list
• Submit your own photos and comments
• Keep up to date on Facebook:

App Support:

Feel free to contact us with any feedback and app support questions using our contact page

Please Notify Me:

 
Please notify me when the app becomes available.

Atlantic Highlands Photography Course, May 15 – June 19, 2012

Have you ever wanted to learn the basics, improve your skills as a photographer, understand how to get the most out of your camera and develop the ability to see and capture  great shots with confidence?

Well, here is your chance!

What’s included?

This hands-on fun filled course consists of a series of six 2hr long evening classes. It covers basic photography principles and practice, as well as basic digital darkroom training, and includes weekly assignments, group photo reviews to showcase each week’s assignment, lectures, video and training materials.

You will learn the how to apply the fundamentals of photography to take great pictures with any camera.

Dates & Times, Venue, Exact Location

The course will be held Tuesday evenings from 7pm-9pm, starting May 15, through June 19th.

The first session will take place at 22 Grand Ave, the rest of the course will be held at Bright Alternatives on 179 1st Avenue, Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716

What equipment do I need?

Digital SLRs are nice, but not required. Any digital point and shoot camera with basic manual controls will suffice.  

Is there a course outline and session guide?

Yes, CLICK HERE for a PDF version of the complete course outline.

What is the cost of the six week program?

The course costs only $225.00 to attend for all six 2 hour classes.

Who is teaching the course?

Former pro shooter and special effects photographer Juergen Berkessel. Visit his site berkessel.com to find out more and check out Juergen’s work.

If you have questions before signing up…

Feel free to email or call Juergen with any questions about the course!
732 291-0462

Risk free sign-up!

There are only a limited number of seats available, so sign up now to reserve your spot in the class. If you feel you are not getting great value out of this course for any reason, we will happily refund your money during the first two weeks of the course.

Available Now: on iPhone, iPad and Android!

This app has come about by public demand after the author’s success with her iPad app, Embracing Change, for which there have been thousands of downloads and reached Number 2 on iTunes in the Business Category.

“When will you do a version for smartphones?” was the request.

Here it is:

A brief introduction to Appreciative Inquiry, which is a perspective on the world that invites users to see themselves and the world through an appreciative or valuing eye.  Users will learn how language, questions, and stories shape destinies.

The app provides tips about the principles and practices of Appreciative Inquiry through stories, images, RSS feeds from related blogs, videos and interactive models of Appreciative Inquiry 4-D cycle.

The app allow users to practice the appreciative mindset through images, audio and notes: Users can upload their own photos to the App’s Facebook’s Page with their stories, create audio recordings of their own insights, as well as annotate their thoughts using the app’s notepad.

App features:

- Interactive models of the Appreciative Inquiry 4-D cycle of discover, dream, design, destiny
– Stories that illustrate the principles of Appreciative Inquiry
– Image gallery with inspirational quotes
– RSS feeds from related blogs
– In-built camera to document the world through the appreciative eye
– In-built audio to record personal insights
– Notepad for recording thoughts
– Facebook and Twitter pages for community of practice

Facebook Page

Please consider liking Appreciative Inquiry – an introduction on Facebook.

App Support:

Feel free to contact us with any feedback and app support questions using our contact page

We offer clients a state of the art restaurant-app-system that not only delights clientele and patrons with a positive user experience, but also provides a seamless and professional experience for staff as well.  This is achieved through an holistic product, integrating advanced features such as food ordering, reservation systems and dynamic restaurant menus and more.

What facilitates retention and reuse rate for apps?  Good utility, usability and distraction.  So you want customers to come back to your app because it’s a good experience: it provides a service and/or information, it is easy to use and when they are hungry or looking for a favorite restaurant they choose yours.  The presentation of your content is extremely important and the features make their experience engaging and useful.  An existing website does not morph into a great mobile app!

Our “Embracing Change” app made it to #2 yesterday and holds the position today. We gifted it to the world for Valentine’s day.

So take advantage of a very cool, interactive iPad app, created with the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite that you will help you embrace change whenever you need it.

Find out more on the App’s home page and on the iTunes App Store:

I hardly watch commercials on TV anymore, since we skip through a lot of them using our DVR. This has had the unexpected result that when we do watch a show live, more commercials actually seem entertaining to me, I suppose due to the lack of over-saturation from TV ads.

And of course half the fun of watching the Super Bowl stems from seeing what great new campaigns are being launched.

Increasingly, Superbowl ads, and TV advertising in general, will feature a mobile component: Nearly 60 percent of mobile users planned to look at or use their mobile device during the Super Bowl, according to a survey from Velti and Harris Interactive.

So, how will we engage in these “Second Screen Experiences”?

Get your QR code scanner ready

I’ve observed an increase in the use of QR codes in TV commercials. While QR codes are everywhere these days, I feel a 30 second commercial is often not enough time to whip out your smartphone and scan the code in time. But special offers, QR based coupons and exclusive timed deals may have some folks ready to “quick draw”.

• To me, QR codes are more suited to static / printed media.

Apps

I would predict that there will be a host of apps advertised or mentioned in Superbowl TV commercials, perhaps too many to open and interact with. From the NFL’s official superbowl app to Domino’s Pizza’s “Pizza Hero”, there will be many apps to interact with.

• Will there be time to watch the game anymore?

Mobile Ready Web Sites

Having mobile enabled web sites will be a big advantage for second screen advertising, as few people will be using laptops as their “Superbowl Second Screen” of choice. It is far more likely that smartphones prevail in this category.

• For brands advertising during the Super Bowl, a mobile ready web site, with flexible content layout optimized to smartphones will be a huge plus.

Messaging and Social Media

I feel text messaging and pusgh notifications will be used sparingly by brands, as the annoyance factor could be quite big. However I see push notifications as being central in the use of Social Media apps, and I think much of the interactive “Did you just see that!!!” conversions will happen on Facebook, Twitter, SMS and the like.

• I hope SIRI can cope.

In 2011, Nielsen found that Super Bowl ads including social media tags that directed viewers to a link on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube were more 33 percent more memorable for viewers. “Advertisers are seeing second-screen opportunities as a natural move to drive engagement in the moment of big-screen advertising – especially when it comes at such a premium as the Super Bowl,” said David Hewitt, Atlanta-based global mobile practice lead at SapientNitro. “Adding an interactive component on smart phone or tablet both extends the time spent, gives consumers an opportunity to participate, and leverages a more cost-effective and measurable channel to continue the brand conversation.”

Read the Full article at mobilemarketer.com

In our home, we’re in that 86% refered to by Jim Hanas (link to the full article below) – we watch TV, read our iPads and connect with friends via social media and sent text messages on our iPhones. But we have yet to formally socialize our TV preferences or experiences.  (Go to Wikipedia for a good overview of Social TV.)

Jim briefly describes five apps that are already shaping social TV.  If you’re into co-creating, sharing and wanting to interact with others about your viewing habits and preferences, download one of these apps.

And, another biggie for marketers.

It’s easy to understand why 2012 is shaping up to be the year of social TV. Consumers are turning to the so-called second screen like never before. A 2011 whitepaper prepared by Yahoo/Nielsen reported that as many as 86 percent of viewers use mobile devices while watching TV. While many think that number might be high, it signals a trend in consumer behavior that cannot be ignored. Broadcasters and marketers are feeling the heat of both risk and reward. Risk if they do nothing and cede the second screen to Twitter and Angry Birds; reward if they find a way to deliver companion experiences, drive engagement–and expand ad inventory.
Read the Full article.

The possibilities are unlimited! For an overview, watch this: