Embeddable

more Minnesota Twins fan photos

How does this photo look? It was taken with my mobile phone on April 18th at the Twins-Indians game. It was also sent to "twins@fanchatter.com" so it could be displayed on the Metrodome jumbotron, but for some reason it didn't make the cut that night like these did on April 6...


Twins Scoreboard Photo Sharing powered by FanChatter Stadium from FanChatter on Vimeo.

Well, now if your mobile photo doesn't appear on the jumbotron during the Twins game you can post it on your blog or your MySpace page or anywhere else instead. That's because we just added the "Embed" option on each individual photo page at twins.fanchatter.com (our FanChatter Stadium Twins event gallery).

Other updates include: sharing photos with multiple email addresses (separated by commas) and previous/next buttons on each photo page (so you can navigate from photo to photo within an event more easily).

And through 28 home Twins games in 2008, Scoreboard Photo Sharing has attracted 3550 photos from 2484 unique fans, resulting in 3443 Qwest-branded replies. If any other teams are looking for this level of in-game mobile interactivity, call me.

THESE (21) WEEKS IN CHATTER - NBA Playoffs/UFC 83 Preview Edition (4/19/08)

(THIS WEEK IN CHATTER, or TWiCh, is FanChatter's sorta-weekly letter to its registered users. Sign up here to receive via email and Call 'Em Like You See 'Em.)

Yes, FanChatter is alive and TWiChing. Thanks to all of you for sticking with us as we continue to develop the first mobile sports chat utility on our own time and our own dime. As always, your critical feedback is welcome. Please reply to any TWiCh email anytime with thoughts on how we can improve our site or mobile tools or usability or anything. We're building this thing for fans like you and your opinion counts.


Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to lately. That's me (above right) with Minnesota Twins pitching great and color commentator Bert (be home... in the Hall of Fame) Blyleven in the Twins press box. It was Mr. Blyleven's birthday and I was there to monitor our new FanChatter Stadium Scoreboard Photo Sharing feature, so I submitted this pic in his honor and it made it on the board (video proof). Props to the Twins for becoming our first official team partner (we're on the lookout for more), Qwest for making it happen, and all the fans who have sent in photos so far, though you may remember that we first tested this idea during three University of Minnesota Golden Gopher football games last fall. So sincere thanks to all who helped us turn this promotional idea into a full-fledged mobile in-game interactivity business.

A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

· Mixed Martial Arts is taking FanChatter by storm now that Muay Thai champion Kaitlin Young (FanChatter username: Kaitlin) has started chattering in the Tough Stuff group about her May 31 Elite XC bout vs. Gina Carano, which we can all watch on CBS...

...and newcomer cageplay, who runs his own very cool Fantasy MMA Betting and Predictions website cageplay.com, is chattering live from UFC 83 TONIGHT (Saturday 4/19) in the Cageplay.com UFC 83 Journey group.

· The playoffs start today in the NBA group and Cleveland's finest kyleroth has resurfaced to hype the Cavs.

· I'm sorry to report that our mobile alerts machine is down for the weekend, which sucks. I was looking forward to getting cageplay's chatter on my phone tonight but now that won't be happening. The good news is you can still post chatter from your phone via text message or email, so all of cageplay's live event coverage will be available online.

And now, a little chatter...

THESE 21 WEEKS IN CHATTER

It's been a full 21 WEEKS since our last TWiCh email (my bad) and I can't possibly honor all the great chatter and photos that have been posted since then, but I'll do my best:

We had a busy winter and spring in the Go Twins group...

KPK: No matter who the twins get, its tough to say that they add up to Johan Santana. But an outfield of Cabrera, Cuddyer and Young is sorta tits

Amill50: Gomez they say is faster than Reyes. Prob the best player in the deal. Future 5 tool player.

Nemo: Every single equals a double for Gomez...I'm already a fan! Torii who? (I know that's premature, but its opening day and I'm excited)!

statman: Mercury on third.

sarah: Neshek went vegan during the offseason-so maybe that boy needs some beef

Brett Favre's retirement in the National Football League group...

JJDacotah: I wonder if people are staying home from work watching reruns of their super bowl win with #4 and crying in their cheese curds

dastro: how will Wisconsin's economic engine deal with this blow?

March Madness in the College Hoops group...

Bistro24: Gophs win. the Hoff hits the big shot and Champps Richfield goes crazy. there were people hugging each other at the bar. strangers too!

todd: My stone cold lead pipe lock tip for all coaches playing Memphis: Foul them, a lot.

The run for the ping pong balls in the Twolves group...

JJDacotah: sweet! didn't realize they played tonight. Off topic, my wife gave birth to our second girl yesterday! Another baby wolf fan!

Marty: CONGRATS JJ! But you should warn your daughter that the pups don't win EVERY night!

Don: Good news: Timbers who tied with Memphis won the tiebreaker & have the third most chances in the lottery.

Bistro24: down w/ David Stern and his dictatorship. only way i will not scream "conspiracy" during the lotto is if the Pups get D Rose w/ the #1 pick

The Sonics and Isaiah Thomas leaving town in the NBA group...

Marty: i'm a pour one mocha grande latte for ma sonic homies: the glove, the rainman, X, big smooth, and that hairy mascot thing. norm green sucks.

mmerrill: There IS a God... Isaiah Thomas has been fired... about a year overdue, Donnie Walsh. My grandmother could have made that decision.

A Wild run in the NHL playoffs in the Wildin' group...

TheStitch: It is the playoffs and it is ON.

philbin5: Let's see the Wild come back

(yeah, we could use a little more Wild chatter)

And all the way back to the end of New England's perfect season in the National Football League group...

rickspicksworld: N.E. will gut the Giants.

robsanders: keep the pressure on Brady and you have a shot at the game

Marty: The Wild Card trumps the Perfect Hand. Cheaters never win.

That's all for now. Spring football is starting the Bowl Championship Series group, it's second season time for the NBA and NHL, the NFL Draft is next weekend, and baseball has only just begun. Thanks again and look for yourself in next week's TWiCh email!

Marty and the team from FanChatter.com

Better Video of Scoreboard Photo Sharing

This is how our Scoreboard Photo Sharing feature looks at the Twins games (please excuse the not-so-hidden jumpcuts but the slideshow was so long I had to cut it down... that's a good thing, by the way)...


Twins Scoreboard Photo Sharing powered by FanChatter Stadium from FanChatter on Vimeo.

...and here's the Twins event gallery where fans can see and share their photos after the game.

I myslef am going to the game tomorrow. Check out the Go Twins group at FanChatter.com for live chatter and photos...

...and we'll see ya' tomorrow night!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Here's the big press release announcing our deal with the Minnesota Twins, including a video of our Scoreboard Photo Sharing test last fall at the University of Minnesota football team's home loss to North Dakota State.

(Note that I went with Vimeo not YouTube for my video player. I needed the best picture possible to demonstrate the clarity of the mobile photos on the jumbotron and Vimeo was the, um, clear choice.)


FanChatter Stadium Scoreboard Photo Sharing Test from FanChatter on Vimeo.

Minnesota Twins partner with FanChatter to offer Scoreboard Photo Sharing

FanChatter’s Stadium technology will enable fans at the Metrodome to send photos from their phone for display on the scoreboard video screens during Twins games.

Minneapolis, MN — March 24, 2008 — The Minnesota Twins have partnered with mobile sports chat utility FanChatter.com to provide Scoreboard Photo Sharing at all 81 Twins home games in 2008, beginning with the season opener at the Metrodome on Monday, March 31.

FanChatter, which allows users to post and receive sports chat via text and photo messaging, recently launched their new FanChatter Stadium division to offer teams and event sponsors a full range of in-arena mobile interactivity features. The Twins are FanChatter’s first official team partner.

“We’re excited to give Twins fans the chance to take their own pictures and see them on the big screen,” said FanChatter co-founder Marty Wetherall. “FanChatter takes the old roving Fan Cam and puts it the fans’ hands, and you won’t believe the clarity of the photos. They look as good on the scoreboard as they do your phone.”

At each home game, fans will be invited to take mobile photos and send them to a custom email address at FanChatter, where they will be reviewed and selected by Twins personnel for inclusion in one of two fan photo slideshows to be shown during designated inning breaks.

Every fan that sends a photo receives an instant reply message on their phone thanking them for their submission and inviting them to visit an online gallery to see and share their photos after the game. The reply message and gallery are presented by the feature’s sponsor, Qwest Communications.

FanChatter successfully tested their Scoreboard Photo Sharing technology during three University of Minnesota football games at the Metrodome last fall. Now the Stadium concept has been expanded to include text message voting, trivia contests, and other mobile interactions, all of which provide teams and sponsors with a “triple-play” of brand communication platforms – in-arena (video board and public address), mobile, and online.

"FanChatter gives fans new ways to interact with games and events,” said Wetherall. "The technology on your phone has moved well beyond simple voice transmission, and it’s easy to use. Scoreboard photo sharing is just the beginning of what’s possible.”

Wetherall continued, “It’s also really cool to have our favorite team as our client.”

Fueled by their deal with the Twins, FanChatter plans to market their services to other teams and sponsors throughout the country while continuing to innovate in the area of mobile sports fan connectivity. They are currently enhancing their Stadium offering to enable more in-game interactions between fans, teams, and sponsors.

About FanChatter:

A Minnesota company, FanChatter is the joint creation of Fanacious, Inc. of Minneapolis and Slantwise Design of Hopkins.

Wetherall, 34, is founder and creative director of Fanacious, Inc., a sports social networking company, and is also senior producer at top creative advertising agency Fallon. His credits include the EDS Super Bowl campaign (“Cat Herders”, “Airplane”, and “Running With The Squirrels”) and independent marketing work for the Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Vikings. In 2003, he created THE SHOW TO BE NAMED LATER..., a "Sports Fan Reality Show" that aired first on community access television and later on Twin Cities NBC-affiliate KARE 11 in 2005. He is a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Slantwise Design is a web design and software development studio founded in 2003 by Jonathan Dahl and Todd Emmel. The company creates usable designs and robust web applications using rapid, agile development methods. Clients range from startups to the enterprise. Most recently, Slantwise has been focused on mobile/web integration and video transcoding systems as well as Facebook and iPhone applications. Slantwise built FanChatter and FanChatter Stadium using the Ruby on Rails framework.

This blog I thaw today

It's been 159 days since my last post. That's 5 months and 7 days. Embarrassing.

So what did it take for me to post again? An Irish holiday? Longer days? The spring thaw? March Madness?

I like the thaw idea, especially since I can finally see patches of my lawn again, but there are really two main reasons why I'm writing again today...

MOVE OVER FAN CAM

Reason #1: Today FanChatter officially made money, so now every year when I wear green on St. Patrick's Day it will commemorate cash and not shamrocks. Thank you Minnesota Twins!



Yes, the Twins, my favorite team with the best logo in baseball (above), has partnered with FanChatter to offer our Big Screen Mobile Photo Sharing feature at all 81 of their home games this season at the Metrodome.

REWIND to last fall, when I needed a way to promote FanChatter.com and our new mobile photo sharing feature. I figured one of the best ways to reach sports fans was through the Jumbotron at the games and I bet that photos from your phone would look as good up there on the big screen as they did on our site.

My friend at the University of Minnesota sports office thought it was a cool idea, so he let me try it out at some Gopher football games. Fans sent in their photos, we put them on the big screen -- "powered by FanChatter.com", of course -- and I was right. The photos looked awesome. In an instant, the roving video Fan Cam was old school, and the new school was us. The fans had taken the cameras into their own hands. Me Media had hit the stadium circuit and there was no looking back.











The best part was how creative the photos were. The other best part was how quickly we realized the sponsorship potential of my little marketing idea.

FAST FORWARD back to today, where FanChatter Stadium offers an entire suite of in-arena mobile interactivity features led by Big Screen Photo Sharing. Every fan that sends a photo receives a reply message that can be branded with anything from product messaging to coupons to access codes for special offers and the list goes on. If you're a sports-minded advertiser and you're looking for a way to get into mobile marketing, this is it.

So I was busy even though I wasn't writing. Then tonight something else happened to help me break out of my slump...

THANK YOU MATT DICKMAN



Reason #2: Matt Dickman is the Director of Digital Marketing at Fleishman-Hillard in Cleveland and the blogger behind Techno//Marketer. He's also the guy who spoke tonight at the Future of Advertising gathering in downtown Minneapolis, which I attended.

Matt gave a solid presentation on trends in advertising and he showed me a lot of things I hadn't seen, like Hurricane Kohls. He focused on MicroMedia and told of how Twitter was buzzing about the Minneapolis bridge disaster last summer a full hour before any news sites had published a report. Absolutely amazing.

(Speaking of MicroMedia, I told him about FanChatter in hopes that he'll give me an honest review of the site and advice on where we can improve -- and I welcome the same from all of you out there, too.)

But it was his discussion of blogging that reminded me of who I need to be. How can I hope to build a successful web startup without the support of the blogosphere? And how can the blogosphere respect a guy who lets his blog hibernate all winter?!

He also talked about the strong relationships he's built through blogging and Twittering, and after I got home I helped him prove his point.

Watching by beloved Timberwolves finish off the sorry Clippers, I chattered via SMS in the Twolves group at FanChatter about reaching win number "SWEET 16". A short while later I received a mobile chatter alert on my phone. It was JJDacotah, a Wolves fan from North Dakota who I've never met in person, chattering back:

"sweet! didn't realize they played tonight. Off topic, my wife game birth to our second girl yesterday! Another baby wolf fan!"

I was amazed at how happy that made me feel to learn about this other fan's good news. The kind of news that makes you forget about basketball for a little while (and not mind it at all). I chattered back from my phone congratulating him, one Fan/Dad to another.

So I'm back. There will be lots more to tell about the Twins and Big Screen Photo Sharing with the Season Opener just two weeks away (exactly). And I look forward to reading Matt's blog as I commit myself to writing more in mine.

Thank you for reading. I promise the writing will improve as soon as I'm fully thawed.

Explaining What We're Doing (in Six Easy Steps)

Yesterday I was interviewed live on the air by KFAN's Henry Lake during "The Lake Show", his weekly Sunday solo gig. The interview lasted about twelve minutes but it felt like two. I did, however, succeed in repeating the name "FanChatter.com" at least a half dozen times.

I'm not sure how well I did beyond simple name repetition, but I'm hoping to get a copy of the segment soon. Others gave me good reviews, although my wife said I talked "pretty fast"...

...but here's what hit me this morning:

The more I talk to people about FanChatter, the more I learn what elements of my pitch are resonating. Interestingly enough, by observing the reactions of others I get a much better idea of where we should be aiming.

Or maybe it's by using the site in its current form that I discover more of what we have to offer. For example, FanChatter is currently populated by myself and several people that I know, and we've been talking sports for a few days now using only the site. I get mobile alerts when the people and groups I'm subscribed to post new chatter, and I presume others have figured out how to receive alerts when I chatter.

All of this led me to compose a new Google Ad Words-style ad this morning in the shower:

Mobile Sports Fan Chat
Talk sports with your friends from
anywhere, anytime, all at once!
FanChatter.com

Sitting around talking with your friends about sports... Isn't that exactly how many of us would rather spend our days, like we were in the 6th grade again? If only we could hang out with our friends all the time -- like we did in the 6th grade -- so each of us could hear all at once what all of us think about each passing sports headline.

Well, now we can, thanks to FanChatter.com.

Here's how I would suggest the average sports fan use the site, in SIX EASY STEPS:

1. Sign up and quickly fill our your sports fan profile (this takes about 2 minutes)

2. Recruit your friends to sign up, too, and ask them to tell you their usernames so you can easily find them on the site.

3. Once they sign up, add your friends to your Lineup (kinda like YouTube's "Subscriptions") and make sure they join your Crowd ("Subscribers").

4. Next, enable your mobile phone to send and receive chatter from your Lineup. Once enabled, you can start and stop mobile chatter notifications anytime by texting #start or #stop to the address "m@fanchatter.com" from your phone.

NOTE: After completing steps 1-4, you and your friends will be able to talk sports ALL DAY LONG from wherever you are, DISCREETLY via your computer, email, or text messaging, and all of you will see what everyone else is saying, and none of you will need to enter and re-enter everyone's email addresses or phone numbers over and over again (unless you don't use FanChatter). Now, on to the equally simple steps 5 and 6...

5. If you decide to explore a little bit and/or search by tags, you may find and subscribe to other users you don't know personally but who share your sports fan views.

6. Another way to find like-minded fans, or to keep track of a particular sports subject, is to follow and participate in a group that interests you. You can even start and stop group chatter notifications to your phone by texting #start or #stop followed by the groupname. You can also post to a group from your phone by texting @ followed by your chatter.

I hope that sounded easy, because it is. I also hope is sounded useful, because it is.



And as I was typing this I just got a huge bit of news (Thanks Kev). 10,000Takes.com, a Minnesota Sports Blog I highly respect, just mentioned us in their daily "Morning Hangover" entry. Maybe it was the radio appearance. Maybe it's because I added them to the blogroll (at right). Whatever it was, thanks guys.

And thanks again to Henry for having us on. This is getting good. Go Twins.

Changing the Game

Something great is happening. Wait, hold on a second...

Wow, Torii is fuming. His weapon of choice: The F-bomb
Marty said less than a minute ago in Go Twins from StLP

I'm watching the Twins-Yankees game and Torii Hunter just got tossed by the plate umpire. What you see above is how I recorded the event as it happened in the Go Twins group at FanChatter.com.

But I'm not the only one doing it. Watching the game and chattering about it, I mean. That's what's happening, and that's what's great.

Last night I did the same thing, but I was all by myself. Another fan offered some postgame chatter, but TONIGHT not one but TWO FANS other than me are corresponding about a ballgame in REAL TIME using the network we've created.

That's what it's all about. Time was you went over to your buddy's house to watch a game because you liked talking (and yelling, and screaming) with him about the action as it was happening. Maybe his TV sucked and his carpet smelled, but he was funny and he cared as much as you did about the outcome.

Misery loves company. Every sports fan understands that.

I guess you could've called him up to watch over the phone but who wants to hold the line for three hours? Then came chat rooms and message boards on the internet, but you had to be... hang on...

That Scankees pitcher looks funny
Marty said less than a minute ago in Go Twins from StLP

...you had to be sitting at both your TV and your computer to participate in the discussion, and if you actually went to the game then you might as well forget it.

But striking out the side... that's not so funny (game over; Twins lose 8-0)
Marty said less than a minute ago in Go Twins from StLP

Enter FanChatter.com -- the world's first fully mobile sports fan chat network. Now fans can watch the game (or the tournament, or the race, or the fight, or whatever they want)... from wherever they are... with whomever they choose...

...and I think that's pretty cool.

So tonight saw the first virtual -- 110% spontaneous -- game watching party hosted at FanChatter. Hopefully we'll see many more, unless the Twins keep losing.

751
Marty said less than a minute ago in Bonds 756 from StLP