Stagira Inc.

Whether you observed Valentine’s Day with your beloved, or cynically reminded your single friends of “Singles Awareness Day”, or completely bypassed what @badbanana on twitter referred to as “…a Hallmark tax on the married,” or some combination of the three, Greeting Card giant, Hallmark Cards, Inc. is sitting back in satisfaction after launching and implementing one of the broadest (analog to digital) cross-media initiatives in its company’s history (a campaign that coincides with the company’s centennial anniversary); at the campaigns’ center– augmented reality.

Along Comes @whurley

Months ago, you couldn’t swing a “painting BMW Z4 roadster” or “USPS flat rate parcel” without hitting the Evil Genius of Open Source, William Hurley (@whurley), speaking on his latest technology fetish–the present and future application of augmented reality. Despite the buzz about the technology on the social networks and around the blogosphere, whurley’s presentation at the Austin Technology Council Rave in November was my first meaningful conversation on the subject. It got me thinking about communication,  brand extensions, SMB markets,  and some variant of Moore’s Law. (More on whurley.) Time marched on, and with it, a new technology was in the process of being delivered to tens of thousands of people, from young and old, to newbie and Gates-Geeky, across the globe.

“Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours…”

My Valentine from Cynthia

visual and text instructions to get online for a surprise

Fast forward to the recent past: a relatively quiet Valentine’s Day in Austin, Texas. I woke to breakfast and my gift from @cynthiaisgr8 : a jar filled with hand-made forget-me-not’s and reminders about who loves me (and why and how). But I digress… A year ago, yesterday, Cynthia gifted me my first Hoops&YoYo™ Hallmark™ card (admittedly, I love these guys). It was only fitting that this year, Cynthia continue the tradition. But this year my valentine card had the stuff of geek love… enclosed inside, instructions to get online and head to http://www.hallmark.com/extra (pictured here) for an online radass surprise. (Notice, the words “augmented reality” do not appear.) So, of course, I headed online.

I pointed my browser to the Hallmark Card, Inc. augmented reality page (someone on their interactive team no doubt knows a thing or two about SEO/SEM as the url headlines are peppered with the phrase,) and to my surprise, Hallmark has its stuff together…the whole experience was a piece of cake. Here’s what I found:

Then, enjoy the comedic styling of Hoops&YoYo™ (all apologies on the AV quality; I shot this myself and in the interest of time.)

The Future of Augmented Reality?

As development costs associated with AR technology decrease, more and more social tools will come to market fostering augmented reality’s second wave of social augmented experiences. These tools will empower entrepreneurs, SMB, and community managers and change agents within enterprise  to address  customer service, communications, operations, processes, and training needs in real time.  Couple this with the development of new hardware, not unlike Apple’s iPad, and the world could very well be on the cusp of a paradigm shift. In the mean time, me and my valentine are cool with Hoops&YoYo™, unicorns and love.

***

Note: I should add that if you’re not familiar with whurley, I highly suggest you check out what will probably be his Opus, Chaotic Moon Studios (facebook fan page). Last we spoke,  the shroud of mystery and the web site are weeks if not days away from unveiling. But based on what he has told me, whurley’s working”MIA hiatus” (read: not speaking in front of people ever other day spreading the gospel of open source)  will invariably support entrepreneurs and enterprise with a menu of  digital voodoo, pixel hoodoo, products and services…augmented reality included. He’s literally killing himself over a production kanban that integrates everything he and his partners have learned about crowdsourcing, imobile development, interactive, technology and the open source community for 30 new clients, including some of the biggest brands out there. In short, observe and learn; once whurley comes up for air, introduce yourself, engage him and he’ll no doubt share the story of his new baby and how one might apply that story to their efforts (operative phrase: “once he comes up for air”)).

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Open Letter to the Ubiquity Marketing unSummit speakers and attendees

Personally, if not for social media, I would not know you (with one exception.) Life would be quite different, more isolated and we certainly would not be doing this together.I would be worse for not knowing each of you, collectively and respectively.

Michelle Greer and Steve Golab reminded me earlier today that my priorities were getting out of whack.  I went for a drive; thought about it.

I am not a tactical person and yet I am living in a very tactical era. A tactic is nothing more than a tool, nothing more than a hammer. And whereas it is easier to monetize a hammer than some new process to swing that hammer (or a new application of that hammer,) the nail gun is around the corner.

Tactical is not sustainable. Purpose, on the other hand, is infinite.

uncertainty, anxiety and fear

The entire world is composed of people, concepts, communication and stuff: This has always been and always will be. Markets are different because they universally require exchange– the exchange of concepts, communication and stuff… between people. Sustainable exchange requires motivation and purpose; lately, motivation and purpose has been stifled by uncertainty, anxiety and fear.

The velocity of exchange has reached unprecedented levels. It is estimated that more market share will begin to change hands in the next 18-24 months than in the last two decades, combined.

What we do as entrepreneurs, marketers and professionals, from all walks, is fundamental in all exchange; but exchange in and of itself is not sustainable. Purposeful exchange, on the other hand, is universally good as it creates opportunity and prosperity for everyone willing to participate, indefinitely. With purposeful exchange, even when we disagree or refuse the exchange, we are emboldening the practice of purpose and creating an opportunity for another to be included.

With purpose, the facts become clear, the ethics known, the engagements authentic, the process and tactics targeted.

What is your purpose?

Even as you read this, you are in the center of market activity with the opportunity at purpose–the opportunity to slay the three-headed hydra: uncertainty, anxiety and fear.

We are all connected, and though loosely woven, we are the beginnings of a community with a very deep reach. Certainly, we have our differences; but in the long run this, community would not be much fun or interesting without those differences. This is a community that can and should be expanded. Expansion creates more exchange, and additional purpose-driven exchange gives us more opportunity and prosperity to lift people up.

I have done a lot of talking in my life; empty promises. And though I meant well, there was no purpose behind it. This has changed and it is the basis of my business and new activity in the community. The Ubiquity Marketing unSummit is a first attempt at doing; it is an attempt at iterative, actionable leadership to bring together a community of individuals as one unit working towards solving functional problems, while creating opportunity and prosperity with everyone willing to participate, online and on the ground.

This is my purpose.

Uncertainty, anxiety and fear. “Nevertheless.” Let’s slay us some dragons. With purpose.

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