Author Archives: Stephanie Schlegel

No, social media cannot wash your car but thanks to the various tools out there, my car is about to be washed for me and I don’t even have to be there. Although daily deal sites like Groupon, Google Offers and Living Social have lost some of their shine, they offer a unique opportunity to introduce consumers to something they’ve never used before. There is potential for a marketing goldmine.

Thanks to Living Social, I’ve been introduced to a reasonably new online service, Cherry. Although the name doesn’t make it very clear what they do, the site allows users to request a car wash. Unlike traditional car washes that require you to bring your car to them, Cherry brings the car wash to you. Simply park in a publicly accessible space, check in with your car’s current location, and unlock your car doors to have the interior cleaned. Doesn’t get much easier than that. They will even send you a text message when someone arrives to wash your car so if you can wait until someone is there to unlock your car.

In mid-April, Cherry received $4.5 million in funding led by Shasta Ventures with additional participation from Founders Fund and angel investors including Shervin Pishevar and Bill Lee. The company also launched an iPhone app that allows users to request a car wash directly from their phone.

Cherry currently is available in various locations across the Bay Area and only costs $29.99 including tip. If you happen to see this post in the next day or two, you can purchase a voucher from Living Social that will only cost $10 for the same service. They’ve already passed 1,300 vouchers sold so there are a lot of dirty cars out there needing some TLC, mine being one of them.

Photo Credit: Original Batmobile at Southern California Car Wash via clusterflock

It’s an exciting week, it’s the Web 2.0 Expo in New York City! In addition, it’s my first trip to New York City and I’m enjoying experiencing the local tech scene.

Since arriving, I’ve had the pleasure of learning quiet a bit about what the city is doing on both the social and technology front. Coming from San Francisco, a huge technology hub, it’s easy to assume that the rest of the tech world is very similar. In Silicon Valley, there are new start-ups launched everyday and an amazing amount of entrepreneurs, engineers, marketers and more to support a robust technology atmosphere.

This morning, I sat in on a presentation by Seth Pinsky, President of New York City Economic Development Corporation, as he outlined the key efforts New York City is working on to keep key technology talent in the city as well as attract entrepreneurs and engineers away from the better known technology hubs like Silicon Valley. From incubators that provide low rent office space to city-funded angel investors to local training programs and competitions, NYC is committed to moving the tech start-up talent to the East Coast.

One part of this effort is geared specifically at education institutions to attract and foster science and engineering talent in New York City. The program, dubbed Applied Sciences NYC, is even asking institutions to submit and RFP (request for proposal) and the city will provide property to build on and develop from the ground up. So far, more than 25 top tier institutions have submitted proposals.

As the session closed, I asked what I think is a key question: can this model be applied beyond New York and the technology sector. Seth very much believed that it can and should although his focus in 100 percent NYC right now.

What do you think? Is NYC in a good position to attract the talent they need? To learn more about Applied Sciences NYC, click here.

Fashionistas around the globe have probably already stumbled across the wonder that is Moxsie.com. I’m a casual shopper and frequent online deal finder but a fashionista, I am not. Imagine my excitement when I stumbled across an ad on PerezHilton for a bag that I instantly fell in love with (yes, I just admitted my guilty pleasures, bags and celebrity gossip).

The ad directed me to Moxsie.com, a Palo Alto based shopping site that helps visitors discover independent fashion designers. The products available are well priced, well made and most are wearable. I selected my bag and quickly purchased it and I learned something even more exciting than the opportunity to find unique products. I discovered that with each purchase, a portion of the proceeds are donated to a charity that the shopper can select from a preset list. There is no additional cost to the consumer and the charities are close the the heart of the designers and Moxsie team. What a great way to enjoy your shopping and give back at the same time.

If you click through the ad on Perezhilton, you get 15% off your purchase instantly. Happy Shopping!

There is no limit to the quantity of iPhone apps out there. From apps that make silly noises to apps that calculate your tip on a dinner out, the selection is almost limitless. A new app, Zoetica, launched today offers a solution for those interested in the nonprofit world (an interest of mine). The Zoetica iPhone app aggregated nonprofit tech and social change blog posts, making sure the content is at your fingertips at all times. Continuing with the nonprofit theme, the application is free of cost in the iTunes store.

What makes Zoetica different than other news aggregators is that Beth Kanter, Social Media and Nonprofit expert, hand selects the blog feeds that are ultimately aggregated into the app, ensuring the user will receive the most relevant information in the space. The app was created through a partnership with AppMakr and is in itself an example of the possible use of such a tool for a nonprofit. The service makes app development possible for groups with limited budgets and limited tech skills, something many nonprofits can use. AppMakr offers different price points that allow for almost any marketing budget to include an app in the plan.

For more information about the application as well as possible uses for nonprofits, please visit Beth Kanter’s blog

As part of my job, I spend a lot of time researching blogs and bloggers that would be interested in a variety of topics including everything from politics to magic. There are an amazing amount of blogs out there and every now and again, I stumble across a blog that is a true gem.

Radicalparenting.com is site that approached parenting from a different perspective, the teenagers. A blog only makes up a portion of the site with those posts covering everything from teen trends to building confidence in teens. In addition to the blog portion of the site there are videos and other resources so parents and teens can get a little closer to being on the same page. Finding a way to bridge the communication gap between parents and teens is a challenge, with RadicalParenting making that gap a little smaller.

Vanessa Van Petten, author and founder of RadicalParenting.com, was kind enough to answer a few questions for the Bub.blicio.us audience. A teen herself when she began to explore the teen mentality, is 24 years old and provides a unique perspective on parenting by providing an opportunity for teens and their parents to connect through the social web.

What inspired you to create Radicalparenting.com?

I wanted to hear the teen voice in all of the parenting blogs out there. What did teens think about their behavior and what parents should do.

Who is the primary audience of your blog?

Parents of tweens and teens.

What type of feedback have you received from teens and their parents?

We have had an amazing response with over 200,000 reading the blog and we get applications for inters every week!

Where do you see Radicalparenting.com going in the next few years?

We plan to have even more teen writers to give them a voice and hopefully a few partnerships to expand our webinar and ebook offers.

As someone who is neither a teen or a parent, it’s interesting to read through issues and topics that are important to teens and how much that demographic has evolved since I was a teen and will continue to evolve. During my teen years, I would have loved having a resource like this so I wouldn’t have to explain to my parents what a Facebook wall is or what LOL means, I would just direct them to this site and roll my eyes (yep, I was an eye roller as a teen). There are also great opportunities for teens to participate in the site as a contributer and intern.

Have any Friday Find recommendations? Email me at stephanie@future-works.com