Tag Archives: mobile gaming

How I Sparked My Memory with Firefly

May 7, 2012

Firefly Pocketstop marketing networking game

I am a visual person. In fact, there’s a joke around the office that you can’t fully communicate with me unless you’re using hand signals. (I’ve already given Lee credit for Daniel’s ideas, because Lee explained them to me using hand signals and Daniel did not.) Anyway, I’m visual. I can remember a face forever. If I see you in passing, you will look familiar to me the next time I see you. And, I’m pretty good at remembering where I was when I met someone, if I recall what the room looked like when we met. But, I’m terrible – TERRIBLE – at remembering names!

Last weekend, I attended the American Marketing Association’s National Summit in Chicago and met 300+ marketing professionals over the course of three days. Usually, I collect business cards and scribble a comment about something visual on the back of the card to remember the face with the name on the front of the card (“brunette wearing red skirt suit” or “tall, blue shirt and blonde hair”), but, this time I didn’t need to do that. I was able to remember more names than I’ve ever remembered before, all because of a cool interactive networking game we played called Firefly. In fact, Firefly is the reason I was in Chicago. Pocketstop was one of the sponsors for the Leadership Summit, which is where we introduced the Firefly networking game. I won’t go into details about the game, but it basically involves a new person, an image that represents that person, and a smart phone that can display the image. For the first time ever, I actually remembered names in addition to faces! And without scribbling fashion comments on the back of business cards.

It felt good to easily remember the names that went with faces. How embarrassing, when you’re in a position to introduce someone to another contact and you’ve forgotten his or her name. Sure, there’s ways around it, but to properly introduce two business contacts, you’ve pretty much got to remember both party’s names. Have you been there? “Tom, I’d like you to meet….” (Insert feeling of panic here). Well, if you are like me and rely on visual cues to spark your memory, know that you’re in good company and there are ways to remember names when you first meet someone. You just have to find what works for you.

- Sandy Taylor, Accounts Manager

Mobile Gaming: Did Temple Run Knock Out Angry Birds?

March 15, 2012

 

Remember when Angry Birds was THE game to play? There was a time when anyone with a smartphone spent hours everyday trying to beat the simple game of catapulting silly birds to knock out the pigs. The game quickly became one of Apple’s and Android’s top downloaded app.

It didn’t take long for Angry Birds to soar past 500 million downloads across all media. But Angry Birds didn’t stop there. Next thing you knew those cute birds were everywhere. Birthday parties, t-shirts, stuffed toys, even jewelry; you name it and the franchise had it. As one of the gaming hits of 2010 Angry Birds made a huge splash. But where are those birds now?

Angry Birds is still one of the most popular apps ever made but Temple Run is quickly coming up on its heels. While Angry Birds is available for Apple and Android users, Temple Run is not. However, Temple Run has already passed 36 million downloads in a mere 6 months on the iOS platform alone. Droid users are anxiously awaiting the Temple Run release but no final date has been announced. From the looks of the anticipation, Temple Run could annihilate Android app records.

Pause. Hold up. I just wrapped my head around the bird craze. What the heck is Temple Run? Temple Run begins with a character that has stolen an idol from a temple. The next step? To run. Monkeys are chasing you as you jump, turn, and slide as fast as you can, all while collecting gold coins for points. Best part? There is no finish line, just a never ending addiction to “run”.

So, will the Temple Run franchise become the next big thing for time-wasters? Will Angry Birds suffer from the Temple Run takeover? It’s hard to tell because these apps are some of the first of its magnitude. Will the money behind the birds be kicking itself once Temple Run hits the big markets? Maybe investors and businessmen alike have no choice but to relentlessly be on the lookout for the next big thing so they can hop from app to app to make the big bucks. App popularity seems to be a fleeting franchise. The next big thing could be-no wait- IS around the corner.

Temple Run may or may not be the next big app franchise but rest assured something will come along soon and our beloved birds will become an endangered species. Pocketstop is constantly reading, viewing, and engaging in new content to capitalize on what’s next. It isn’t easy, but then again, staying on top never is. Word of advice? If you want to cash in on the app franchise world, you’ll need constant vigilance. See what apps are taking of and jump the bandwagon. Happy hunting!

- Dhanya Yalamanchi, Public Relations Associate

Photo credit: Flickr user Yaniv Golan